Stand by You
by Keren Olivero
Summary: The first of 3 books in a trilogy series. Three youma that once dwelled in Beryl's castle grow weary of her and decide to serve shitennou Nephrite. This is a behind the scenes look at what Nephrite is up to while Jadeite stole energy.Please,no flames.
1. Chapter 1

_Note: This fic was originally written in 07. I have decided to rewrite it as my skills have grown quite a bit since then._

Author's Notes: Sailor Moon and its characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei Animation, not me. However, Miki, Yukari and Ruby do belong to me. Takes place shortly before the fall of the Moon Kingdom, after the generals and Queen Beryl were brainwashed by Queen Metallia. Will end at the English dub episode "Cruise Blues." I will be using Japanese names here, but influences of the original and the NA dub will be mixed. Rated PG-13 for the occasional mild language and violence. Flames are not welcome. Thanks to Lady1Venus for her help.

Chapter 1

Just outside Queen Beryl's castle, Yukari was in her quarters, thinking about things. It was her favorite peace and quiet place to be away from the other youma and the witch queen, Beryl. No one other than Miki came there. It also looked slightly less bland and boring, in terms of the colors used. She knew that she had left during the meeting Beryl called, but she felt like she had to. She was at her wits end where Beryl was concerned. She couldn't handle any more boring lectures, and quite frankly, she couldn't abide the sound of Beryl's voice. Not to mention that Beryl was such a nag. She always made her henchmen do stuff that she was capable of doing herself while she sat on her butt all day. Yukari found it hard to believe that Beryl was once an honorable person who was just possessed by Queen Metallia. She would have to see it to believe it. She considered some of Beryl's youma to be tolerable, but she disliked the missions given. From her point of view, she and her twin were far above being youma in training; they were both more powerful than a vast majority of Beryl's youma. Yukari longed to be a servant to someone who would take her and Miki seriously, as well as treat them with the respect they deserved. She decided that she was going to tell Miki this whenever she showed up. She knew that Miki would understand. Miki was the closest person she had to a friend, and she didn't know what she would do without her. Just then Miki walked in. Yukari didn't bother looking up. She was so busy in thought that she didn't notice the presence of her twin at first. Miki had to clear her throat. Yukari nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Earth to Yukari. Yukari, what's on your mind?"

Yukari immediately snapped out of her thoughts. She saw her twin sister Miki, looking at her with an amused look.

"Oh, it's just you, sis," the platinum blonde streaked, brunette haired young woman said, with a look of relief on her face.

"Yes. What are you thinking about?" Miki asked again. "It is unbecoming of you to daydream."

"I despise Queen Beryl with a passion. Her loudmouthed voice gives me a migraine," Yukari said, rubbing her forehead.

Miki nodded in understanding. It was not surprising to hear, and besides, she herself despised Queen Beryl.

"And she's such a nag. Oh. I wish we could get away from her," Yukari fretted. Her greatest fear was that she would be stuck with the third rate youma and working for Beryl forever, an idea that she abhorred with her being. Even a painful death was more preferable to that horrid idea.

"Maybe we can. I'll think of a way," Miki assured Yukari.

That appeased Yukari a bit, but not by much. The question was how could they be free of Beryl, and would their efforts be futile?

"I can help with that," said an unfamiliar female's voice.

Miki and Yukari looked up. A young woman with long, wavy ruby colored tresses appeared. She was wearing a short black halter neck dress with a poufy skirt. Their first impression? She looked very mature, and like a model. She was extremely slim, and the way she wore her outfit made them feel slightly younger than their estimated age of nineteen years. Their mini-dresses looked tame in comparison. They wondered how she could be of any help to them. They both questioned her at once.

"Really?" Yukari asked. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Who are you?" Miki asked. She wasn't going to trust this woman so easily, whoever she was. For all she knew, the woman could be someone Beryl sent to assassinate them.

"The name's Ruby," the woman replied in a sassy tone. Miki and Yukari introduced themselves as well.

"Well, Ruby, how could you be of any help to us?" Miki asked.

Ruby smiled at them. She found Miki's skepticism rather amusing. "Well, I'm sure you've heard about one of Beryl's shitennou, General Nephrite," she said.

This General Nephrite was supposedly one of the highest ranked generals next to Kunzite. Miki and Yukari heard about how powerful he was. They didn't think someone like him would have time for the likes of them, but having him as a master instead of Beryl sounded very, very pleasant. So if that was the idea Ruby was getting at, they would accept her help without any more questions.

"Yes. What of him?" Miki asked. She and Yukari were looking at Ruby, eyes full of interest and curiosity.

"Well, there are times he looks very lonely. I was thinking, maybe we could be henchmen and companions to him at the same time," Ruby said. She noticed this when she would discreetly watch him in the Dark Kingdom's cafeteria. She didn't have the courage to speak to him before, until now. If she was going to help these girls, cowardice was not an option.

"Sounds like a grand idea. It'll be a great honor to serve someone as powerful as he," said Yukari.

"Yes, but we can't just go to him and say, Lord Nephrite, we'd like to be your henchmen. He might turn us away. We have to have a plan," Miki pointed out.

"Yes. I suppose you're right," said Yukari with a sigh.

"Don't worry about a thing. Leave it to me," Ruby said.

"What do you have in mind?" Miki asked Ruby.

"Never mind that. Just follow me. And I'll do the talking," Ruby replied.

"If you say so," Miki said. She and Yukari wondered just how Ruby planned to go about this. Not that they doubted her, considering how bold and sure-of-herself she seemed. They hoped that her efforts wouldn't be for nothing.

Ruby led Miki and Yukari to Nephrite's hideout. It was a large mansion surrounded by trees. Miki and Yukari were impressed by it. Who would've thought that a mansion could exist in a place like the Dark Kingdom? That was the bad thing about not being able to roam around it much; they missed out on a lot.

"We have no time to waste. Let's go," Ruby said to them.

"Oh, right," Yukari said. The three women teleported into Nephrite's mansion and went looking for him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nephrite was sitting at his table in his massive gourmet kitchen, sipping on some apple cider. He had already completed his work for the day, regarding the preparations for the upcoming attack on the Moon Kingdom. He had been spying on all of the guards and people of the moon to see if he could uncover their strengths and weaknesses. This way, the Dark Kingdom would know which strategy would be best for obliterating the moon. He was truly grateful for this task, as mingling with the humans was a talent of his. He was actually the only general that had the patience to do so.

'Soon, the universe will crumble at the hands of the great Queen Metallia,' he thought. He took another sip. To think he was once pathetic enough to be a human and abide by their imbecilic emotions….

Soon, he heard footsteps. Nephrite spun around to see who it was. He saw three young women, two of whom which looked alike. He had seen them around, but basically refused to acknowledge their presence. He was surprised that they actually found his mansion, and slightly irritated as well. This was partially because he was hoping to have a nice relaxing evening without disturbances, and partially because they dared to enter his mansion without permission. He wondered if they had any sense of decorum. They most likely didn't, if they were Beryl's servants. Depending on what they wanted, he would have to strengthen the protective spell he put on the mansion. He silently cursed himself for not making it strong enough the first time. Before he could say anything, Ruby stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

"Forgive us if we disturbed you, but we must speak with you," Ruby said.

Nephrite gave a sigh. "Very well. What is it?" he asked.

Ruby then told him what her, Miki and Yukari's names were and explained to him their situation. Yukari and Miki eyed him for a second, and couldn't help but notice how incredibly beautiful he looked, with his long wavy chestnut colored tresses and sapphire eyes. It was enough to make their chocolate colored hair that was streaked with corn silk seem plain in comparison.

"So, we were wondering if you would let us serve you. It'll be a great honor," Ruby said.

Nephrite thought for a moment, and looked at the three women. For a moment, Miki, Ruby and Yukari were scared; they thought he would say no. But they did their best to hide their fear, as they knew that he would view it as a sign of weakness.

"All right, then," he finally replied.

"Oh, thank you!" Ruby squealed.

"Just know, we'll stand by you, no matter what," Yukari said.

Miki nodded in agreement.

Nephrite was pleased and amazed to hear that. Still, he decided not to believe it until they showed him, for he knew that there was nothing but lies and betrayal in the Dark Kingdom.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Contrary to Nephrite's expectations, Miki, Yukari and Ruby kept their word to stand by him no matter what. He was beginning to think that maybe they were exceptions to the traitorous servants of the Dark Kingdom. So far, he didn't have any regrets about agreeing to let them serve him. Nephrite was also amazed by his henchmen's powers; he found them impressive. Miki, Yukari and Ruby were truly grateful to Nephrite for allowing them to serve him, and for understanding that they couldn't abide having Beryl as a master for one more second. They particularly enjoyed working for him. They were impressed that he still had a grain of honor, despite being under Metallia's influence, which was more than they could say for Beryl. Also, Ruby, Miki and Yukari had tiny crushes on the star general, developed from the moment they first saw him. However, they knew those type of emotions would be unprofessional, considering their status. They were afraid of what he would think if he knew, so they neutralized the feelings a bit. That still didn't stop them from being helpful in whichever way they could. Though amazed by such actions, Nephrite secretly appreciated it. They were definitely efficient, that's for sure. And he was especially glad that he didn't have to train them how to use their attacks, as they already knew how to do that. All he would have to do is teach them a thing or two about the best fighting strategy. Nephrite decided to see how Miki, Yukari and Ruby were progressing. He smiled as he watched them train. At that moment, he sensed Queen Beryl summoning him. He teleported to her throne room to see what she wanted. Jadeite, Zoisite and Kunzite were already there.

* * *

"All four of you are here, excellent. Tonight is a good night to attack the Moon Kingdom. We shall do it by crashing their little ball," said Queen Beryl with an evil grin. She enjoyed spoiling people's fun.

"That's an excellent plan, my queen," Kunzite said.

"Why thank you, Kunzite," Queen Beryl replied, giving him a small smile.

Nephrite was fighting the urge to roll his eyes at this. He thought Kunzite was being such a suck up, and if there was any behavior that made him feel utterly sick to the stomach, it was that one. Queen Beryl didn't notice, though.

"Make sure to prepare yourself well," she told the four shitennou. All four of the shitennou bowed respectfully, then teleported away. Beryl grinned evilly again, as she had just concocted another evil plan. It was something that would be sure to anger Princess Serenity. She wanted Endymion as her soul mate and she was determined to have him.

Nephrite called Miki, Yukari and Ruby before him.

"Yes, Master Nephrite?" Miki said as she, Yukari and Ruby appeared.

Nephrite told them about Queen Beryl's plan.

"I've been watching you three train. I must say that I am impressed by your powers. You're strong enough for this battle," Nephrite told them.

The three young women were very flattered to hear that Nephrite actually had a high opinion of their abilities. And they were very happy to assist him in any way they could. While they might loathe Beryl's boring meetings, it didn't mean that they were not interested in assisting him with his assigned tasks. Though Ruby was slightly on the arrogant side, she decided not to let this respect go to her head. She expressed her appreciation modestly.

"Just tell us what you'd like us to do, and we'll do what we can to help out," Miki said.

"Count me in, too," Yukari chimed in.

"Good," Nephrite said. He went to prepare himself for the battle. Miki, Yukari and Ruby decided to do some more training.

* * *

Endymion traveled to the Moon Kingdom to give Princess Serenity an update on what was happening on earth. Princess Serenity was staring at the earth, waiting for Prince Endymion. She hoped that the time he told her of Beryl and her warriors wasn't the last time she would see him. She hoped everything would be all right and that they could get married, just like they planned to. She was relieved when he showed up.

"Princess, may I have this dance? This may be our last one," the prince said, reaching out a hand to Princess Serenity. Serenity walked down the stairs and took Endymion's hand. They began to dance. She felt so warm in his arms that she forgot about the troubles on earth for a bit. Considering that Endymion showed up, maybe the trouble had temporarily died down. Unless he came to tell her more bad news…? She hoped that the first one was true.

"I was afraid that you wouldn't come back," Serenity said.

"I was saving this moment just for you. But I'm afraid that I have bad news," said Endymion gravely.

Serenity's heart starting racing and her stomach felt cold. She hated hearing bad news, especially when she has no idea what it could be or if it was something she was afraid of. "What is it?" she asked.

"This Queen Beryl is more dangerous than I thought. The entire universe is in jeopardy," Prince Endymion said.

Princess Serenity didn't like the sound of that. She wondered how nasty this Beryl could get. She had a gut feeling that this Beryl was after the moon as well. As afraid as she was to ask, she really needed to know so she could do whatever she could to help.

"Even the moon?" she asked fearfully.

Prince Endymion nodded. "Especially the moon. Queen Beryl plans to destroy the whole universe, and to do that, she must first conquer the moon. We must prepare for battle as best as we can," Prince Endymion said. "Your mother knows that I am not a spy. She has asked me to stay and aid in this battle." That sounded good to Serenity if it would stop the guards from calling him a spy. Prince Endymion and Serenity decided to take a break from dancing.

"What if we can't defeat the Dark Kingdom?" Serenity asked Endymion.

"That's my greatest fear. Queen Beryl and her warriors are incredibly strong. I fear that even our best won't be enough," Endymion said.

Princess Serenity gave Prince Endymion her locket. In case they were separated for some reason, she wanted him to have something of hers so that he would have a piece of her with him.

"Just know that in case we don't survive this battle, you'll be in my heart forever," Prince Endymion said.

"So will you," Princess Serenity replied. She and Prince Endymion shared a kiss, and embraced each other.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Queen Beryl summoned Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite and Kunzite to her throne room. They appeared and bowed respectfully.

"It's time to annihilate the Moon Kingdom!" she said.

Just then, Nephrite's youma appeared. Just seeing Beryl, just thinking her name made them feel nauseous. But since Nephrite was in the throne room, they decided to show some manners. There was no way in hell they were going to bow deeply. They curtsied before the diabolical queen. The curtsy looked forced, but they didn't care. Queen Beryl didn't pay attention, though. Instead, she asked her henchmen if they were ready.

"Yes!" they chorused.

"Excellent," said Queen Beryl with an evil grin. She unleashed Queen Metallia on the Moon Kingdom, then teleported to the moon with her shitennou. She wanted to wreak some havoc of her own.

* * *

Queen Metallia proceeded to knock over the buildings. The residents saw this, and screamed. This was the scariest sight they had ever seen in their lives. Whatever the thing was, it was just blasting the kingdom as if it were a bunch of pins at a bowling game. They didn't have any magic powers, so it wasn't like they could fight back or anything. They were virtually helpless. And it certainly didn't help that the creature was such an eyesore.

"Oh no! The Moon Kingdom is under attack!" Luna cried.

"We must prepare for battle!" Artemis said, running alongside Luna. Ami, Rei, Minako, and Makoto saw Metallia's onslaught, and transformed into their senshi forms.

"Shabon Spray!"

"Fire Soul!"

"Supreme Thunder!

"Crescent Beam!"

The attacks hurtled towards Queen Metallia. The girls waited to see what the attack would do. Much to their chagrin, the attacks didn't faze her. "What the…" Sailor Mars started to ask.

Queen Metallia laughed at the bewildered senshi. "Is that the best you can do? Pathetic!" she taunted. Like a boomerang, she shot the attacks back at the senshi. They screamed as the attacks hit them. They were dead within minutes.

* * *

Queen Beryl cackled. This was the moment she had been waiting for. So far, everything seemed to be going according to plan. There was no way Queen Serenity or her court would prevail against Beryl and her army of warriors. And destroying the humans that had no powers would be simple. "I'll have Queen Serenity groveling at my feet. The universe is powerless against Queen Metallia!" she gloated, zapping the buildings with her staff.

The four shitennou looked on in amusement. They enjoyed seeing the human weaklings cower in fear. It was only a matter of time before the entire universe would be nothing more than a memory. The senshi were already deceased. No one could possibly stand in their way now, not even Queen Serenity, worthy an opponent she might be.

"Hahahaha, this night is grand!" Kunzite laughed.

Nephrite's youma were watching behind him. Their feelings were a mixture of pity and disdain, pity because they were being trampled like bugs from a detestable ruler. The youma was disdainful of the weakness of the humans in terms of their emotions, and the fact that they had no powers. They thought the ordinary humans were not worth it.

"These mortal fools will meet their demise. What a pity," said Miki sarcastically.

"Yes. It's a pity that they're so weak and defenseless," Ruby agreed.

"No, it's amusing," Yukari spoke up.

Princess Serenity looked on at the destroyed buildings in fear. She was afraid that things would get worse. It was just as she thought. Suddenly, Queen Beryl appeared before her.

"Oh no!" the princess gasped. Whoever this woman was, she looked scary. Was she the Queen Beryl Endymion told her about? If that was the case, then she was in a heap of trouble.

"Well, well, Princess Serenity, it seems that you're dressed up for nothing," Queen Beryl taunted, lunging at Princess Serenity. Princess Serenity cringed in fear, as she would not be able to evade the attack in time. Suddenly, a rose stopped Queen Beryl. She looked up sharply.

"You're Prince Endymion from earth, are you not?" she asked.

"That's right. And I will make you regret the day you were born!" Prince Endymion replied.

Queen Beryl smirked at him. In all actuality, she was glad to see him. She couldn't understand what Endymion saw in this weakling. Not that she blamed the princess for her love for him, but she didn't understand what Endymion would gain from being with the likes of this weakling. Beryl felt Endymion would gain so much more if he chose her instead. She decided to persuade the prince of the earth to choose her by telling him what her path had to offer.

"I admire your spunk. But you're only wasting your time with this twit. I promise that if you join forces with me, you will have a glorious future," she said.

Endymion frowned at the nefarious woman before him. He couldn't believe that she disposed of her weak side all because he refused to return her feelings. He was disappointed in her for not being stronger than that.

"Beryl, you're under the control of an evil force. Wake up or you will regret it later!"

Queen Beryl gave an angry grimace. Endymion's words made no sense to her. "No one opposes Beryl's evilness!" she thundered.

* * *

Queen Metallia destroyed the remaining buildings. The attack sent Prince Endymion careening.

"Ahh!" he screamed.

"Endymion!" Serenity cried.

"Serenity, escape while you can!" Endymion warned.

"No, I won't leave you! If it means that I'll die with you, then so be it!" Serenity said stubbornly. She had no qualms dying with the man she loved. Endymion was about to object to this. She had many years ahead of her, and so he wanted her to survive. But it was too late. She jumped and reached for Endymion's hand. Endymion took her hand and held onto it as tightly as he could.

Queen Metallia shot a blast of energy at them. It knocked them apart and killed them instantly. Queen Serenity looked at their floating, lifeless bodies in horror.

"Oh no! They're both gone!" she cried.

Tears ran down Luna's cheeks as she looked at the princess' deceased form. Beryl, however, was ecstatic. She had succeeded in conquering the moon. All she had to do was annihilate the survivors and she would be one step away from her goal. She was aware of the fact that she could no longer rule the Dark Kingdom with Endymion, but felt no remorse for his passing. If she couldn't have him, no one would.

"Ha ha ha ha, the pitiful princess and her prince are no more!" Queen Beryl cackled.

Queen Serenity wept over her fallen daughter, bitter tears. It seemed like her world had come crashing down at that moment. The truth that her daughter was no more was unbearable. She just couldn't accept this type of fate. She knew what she had to do. It was a very risky move, but it was the only way for peace to be restored.

"I'll punish the evil doers if it's the last thing I do," she said, wiping her eyes. She placed the ginzuishou on the crescent moon wand.

"Queen Serenity, if you use the ginzuishou, you'll die," Luna stated.

"There's no other way, Luna. If regaining our peace means sacrificing my own life, then so be it," Princess Serenity said firmly. She blasted Beryl and her minions with the ginzuishou.

"Impossible!" Queen Beryl screamed. Everyone, youma and all, screamed as if they were in pain as they were hit by the power of the ginzuishou.

Artemis congratulated the queen.

"It's far from over. The only thing I was able to do was trap them. Now I must send Serenity and the others to Earth," the queen said sadly.

"Why are you so sad?" asked Luna.

"None of them will remember this time period, and this is the last time I will see you all. But this is the only way. I have just enough power to send everything to Earth. Serenity and her court will need your help if the Dark Kingdom breaks free," said the queen.

"Yes," Luna and Artemis said.

"You two know what to do if the Dark Kingdom tries to repeat what happened here. Now farewell, and good luck to you all," Queen Serenity said, letting go of the ginzuishou. The ginzuishou released energy beams that held the Moon Kingdom residents, and they floated in small bubbles to Earth. Luna and Artemis were encased in capsules.

"You will be free again," Queen Serenity said, breathing her dying breath. She died, and the crescent moon wand dropped out of her hand.

* * *

In the Dark Kingdom, Queen Beryl was brooding over her defeat. Just when she thought she would win against Queen Serenity, she had been outwitted. How did she manage to do that? Her powers were insignificant compared to Beryl's. Beryl had never felt this much humiliation in her life. The only saving grace was that Queen Serenity lost her life in the process.

_'No matter. I'll snatch the ginzuishou, and the remainder of the universe will fall!' _she thought, waving her hands around her crystal ball. In the meantime, she and her minions would have to regain their strength for future battles.

Meanwhile, Nephrite's youma were still reeling from the attack. It had quite an effect on them. They were severely weakened as a result. It was a good thing that they were a bit more powerful than the typical youma. They had to admit that Queen Serenity was a worthy adversary. Ruby felt a migraine coming on. She rubbed her forehead. At that moment, Nephrite came to check on the girls.

"Are you three all right?" he asked them.

"Not particularly. Queen Serenity made fools out of us," Ruby replied. And she was also feeling sick, but there were bigger problems than that.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Queen Serenity sacrificed her life, so in the end we still won," Nephrite pointed out.

"Hmmm, you're right about that," Ruby said, perking up.

"And once our powers are fully restored, those foolish mortals will fall!" Nephrite ranted. He gave an evil laugh. His youma laughed as well.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Miki, Yukari, and Ruby's powers had grown stronger over the past one thousand years. But much to their dismay, Queen Beryl made Jadeite the lead shitennou, instead of Nephrite. This displeased them greatly; they wanted to have a chance to prove their abilities. They felt that Nephrite was far worthy to be lead shitennou than Jadeite. Nephrite, too, thought it was rather foolish of Beryl to choose Jadeite, the weaker general to gather energy first, but felt that it did not matter because Jadeite would not last long. The star general had no respect for Jadeite as a general. The women were in the planetarium, as Nephrite had given them a lesson about the different constellations not too long ago. They proceeded to rant about Beryl's decision.

"Queen Beryl is such a fool," said Miki. "What was she thinking, choosing Jadeite to be her first commander?" Patience was not exactly a virtue with her. She thought waiting for Jadeite to fail miserably would be a pain in the rear. She wanted him to hurry up and fail. Not that she would have to wait for very long where Jadeite was concerned.

"I concur. Nephrite is one of the highest ranked shitennou. Why didn't she choose him?" Yukari wondered.

"Simple. She's a horrible leader," said Ruby, impetuously. Slightly subjective on her part, but there were areas where Beryl's leadership skills were sub par, and this was one of the situations. But she mostly said it because of her total disrespect for Beryl. She was surprised when Miki agreed with her.

"Amen to that," Miki replied.

"A poor leader indeed," said a deep voice.

Yukari jumped a mile at the sudden voice. Miki put a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, sis," she said.

Yukari looked up and saw that it was only Nephrite.

"Oh, it's just you, Master Nephrite," she said, giving a sigh of relief. She felt so ridiculous for being startled, but geez, he should not have appeared without warning like that. The two other women gave him their attention.

"I understand your pain. But please, do try to be patient. I can pretty much guarantee that Jadeite won't last long," Nephrite told his youma.

"Yes, Master Nephrite," said Miki.

"Look at it this way. While Jadeite acts like the incompetent fool he is, we can plan our strategy," said Nephrite, giving an evil chuckle.

Yukari nodded. "Yes, that's true." She had forgotten all about that, and extra time for preparation would give all of them the advantage. Maybe waiting for Jadeite's failure would not be so bad after all. All of a sudden, a high pitched tenor sounding giggle was heard.

"You're living in a dream world, aren't you, Nephrite?" asked a girly male's voice.

Nephrite looked up sharply. He recognized the annoying voice. It belonged to his greatest rival, Zoisite. The sakura king was always appearing in the star king's mansion just to be an annoyance. Nephrite's female minions found the feminine chuckle nerve grating. Sure enough, a blonde young man whose hair was tied back in a ponytail appeared.

"Well, if it isn't Zoisite. Don't you have training to do?" asked Nephrite, sounding annoyed.

The youma felt the same way. They despised the way Zoisite appeared in the mansion even after Nephrite had used his star power to create a barrier that would prevent unwelcome guests from entering. Yukari wanted to tell Zoisite to get a life, but things got very ugly when she lost her temper. So she decided to keep quiet and let her master take care of him. Not that she or the others had problems standing up for him, whenever one disrespects him.

Zoisite ignored the question. "You're dreaming if you think you'll be Queen Beryl's new commander when Jadeite fails. She's giving that job to ME." The sakura felt threatened by the higher ranked general. He was afraid that if Nephrite succeeded and became rewarded by Beryl as a result, he would be stuck as a general in training for eternity. That was something he was not going to allow. He didn't think Nephrite was worthy to be ranked higher than him, and he would prove that he was the better general if it was the last thing he did. Especially if it meant the chestnut haired warrior would fall from Beryl's grace.

That did it. Nephrite wanted Zoisite out of his sight. He really didn't give a rip about what the effeminate king thought, but he preferred that Zoisite pestered someone who could handle it. He had enough obstacles to deal with; he didn't need Zoisite making it worse just because he had nothing better to do. He didn't feel like yelling, though, as he wasn't giving the pansy boy the satisfaction of seeing his displeasure. He decided that sarcasm would do just fine.

"Riiight. And I'm sure she's going to make you the new leader, too," replied Nephrite, sarcastically.

Zoisite bristled with anger at the sarcastic remark. He hated having his arguments countered with sarcastic remarks. But he couldn't say anything; Nephrite had made him feel like an idiot. So he disappeared in a huff.

'_Obnoxious vermin,'_ thought Ruby. She was glad that he left. The entire time Zoisite was there, Ruby felt like ripping Zoisite's heart and intestines out. She despised the lower ranked general with a passion. Miki and Yukari felt the same way. NO ONE disrespected their master like that.

* * *

Meanwhile, Queen Beryl was sitting on her throne, finishing off her bowl of liver and sardine soup. It was the only food that the Dark Kingdom chefs knew how to make properly; the other foods were a mess. But it did not matter, because with the exception of the liver dishes, that was the way Queen Beryl liked her food; poorly cooked. And the poor generals, as long as they resided in the Dark Kingdom, had to suffer the humiliation of consuming such noxious, nauseating dishes. Did the witch queen care if her henchmen had horrible stomachaches? No. She acted like just because she had learnt to tolerate the stuff meant that her minions should as well. Soon, she was done with her soup. A random servant came and took the bowl away from her. Queen Beryl waved her hands around her crystal ball.

"The oracle says that it's time to unleash the great Queen Metallia on this miserable planet!" Queen Beryl announced. She thought 1000 years was long enough. Her patience was wearing thin.

"Long live Metallia!" the henchmen shouted.

"But at the moment she is weak, so we will need a great deal of energy to revive her. We shall get it from those weak earthlings." Beryl yelled at Jadeite to present himself.

A young man with short, curly blonde hair appeared and bowed respectfully. He wondered what Beryl wanted this time.

"Tell me your plan," Queen Beryl ordered.

"My servant Morga is gathering energy from humans in a place they call a jewelry store," Jadeite replied.

"Very well. See to it that she succeeds!" said Queen Beryl. Failure was something that she had very little patience for, and Jadeite knew it. He himself despised failure, so he strived to please Beryl in any way he could. He knew what she was capable of once she became impatient, and he feared her during those times.

"Yes, my queen," replied Jadeite, bowing respectfully. With that, he teleported away.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Nephrite called upon the power of the stars and requested that they show him Jadeite's plan for gathering energy. Keeping tabs on Jadeite's progress would enable him to know how long it would be before he took over, and how he would go about gathering energy once it was his turn. The stars showed him a vision of Morga, disguised as Mrs. Osaka, and a huge mob of people at a jewelry store. A few moments later, the image dissolved. For Nephrite, the vision was clear. He now knew that the plan was to gather energy from a large group of people at once. To put it candidly, the dark general thought this was the most absurd scheme ever. It was so conspicuous. The blonde general was literally making it simple for someone to know what he was doing. Jadeite's absurdity was a bit appalling, but at the same time, Nephrite didn't expect much from him. Jadeite was a novice in his eyes. The youma couldn't believe it either. He was more brainless than they thought.

Nephrite turned to face his youma. "What a ridiculous plan, gathering energy from a huge crowd," he said disdainfully. They agreed with him wholeheartedly. He was more brainless than they thought. Yukari was even more appalled than Nephrite was.

"What is he thinking?" She shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe that Jadeite was actually setting himself up for failure.

Ruby snorted. "Big surprise," she said sarcastically. She never really had respect for the blonde general in the first place, but this proved that he was more of a small fry than he thought.

But Miki really wasn't expecting Jadeite to come up with a better plan than this, considering how low her opinion was on his abilities and intellect. "Just as I thought," she said. "At this rate it won't be long before his time as head general is up." This was exactly what she wanted, for him to quickly fall from Beryl's favor. Personally, she would not have chosen him as her commander this early in the first place, if she were Beryl, unless, of course, she was waiting for him to outlive his usefulness. Who knew whether that was the evil woman's true intention or not?

'_I have no time for this nonsense. There's work to be done,' _thought Nephrite. He had come up with a plan to familiarize himself with the human objects, to see if they had changed from how they were 1000 years ago. Also, he wanted to already be familiar with them by the time it _was_ his turn to gather energy. And he knew just what he would do first.

"Listen, I'm going to Earth to run some errands, one which involves buying some human food. I'm not eating any more of that revolting filth Beryl calls food," he told the women. They certainly didn't blame him for that. He had those crummy dishes so much that it now got to the point where his stomach detested the stuff. Even thinking about them was enough to make his stomach churn, especially those wretched prune products. And it wasn't a question of decency here. In fact, the prune products were the only foods Nephrite considered to be remotely decent, the only ones worthy to even be called food. But because of Beryl's obsession with them, the amount served was far above moderate amounts, and more than a few at a time made him feel very ill. Luckily for him, Beryl wouldn't be paying attention to what he ate and drank once he was doing it behind closed doors. That was another reason why the girls were grateful that they no longer resided in the Dark Kingdom.

"One of you may come with me, if you care to," said Nephrite. Miki, Yukari and Ruby were so happy to hear that. But the question was which one would go with him? It was obvious that they couldn't all go; two of them were to stay behind and watch the mansion to make sure no unwelcome visitors disturbed anything. Before they could figure out how they would decide who went and stayed behind, Ruby spoke up.

"I'll come," she volunteered.

"Very well," said Nephrite. He went into his bedroom and changed into his Masato Sanjouin outfit, an expensive sports outfit consisting of a yellow collarless shirt, light blue jacket and white pants. Ruby disguised herself as a mere mortal. She didn't want to risk frightening the humans with her elf-like ears, though the rest of her youma form was human-like.

"Hmmm, I'm curious to know what human food is like," Yukari said to Miki. It was something she was curious about for quite some time.

"I would like to know that as well," replied Miki. If it was any better than the indigestion inducing Dark Kingdom cafeteria food, she would be switching to it.

A few minutes later, Nephrite came out.

"Let's go, Ruby," he said.

"All right," said Ruby. She followed Nephrite to his Ferrari Testarossa.

Nephrite turned back and told Miki and Yukari to make sure no unwanted visitors entered the mansion.

"Yes sir," said Miki.

Nephrite and Ruby left after that.

* * *

Meanwhile, Usagi was lying on her bed. She was feeling very exhausted from studying at the library. Her mother had made her go there to study for a makeup exam she would need to do because of failing the previous exam. Oh boy, did she hate school. And the thing about it was that she could do well if she tried to. She just considered school to be a total bore.

"Studying is so tiresome. I don't understand how Umino could do it. I think I'll take a nice, long nap," said Usagi. She closed her eyes to go to sleep. Little did she know, her destiny was going to change very, VERY soon. A black cat had been watching her while she was at school, and while she was in front of the arcade, whimpering about her low score on the test. The cat could hardly believe that such a lackadaisical, overemotional girl was the one who was destined to defend the princess of the moon. But she had sensed a strong force from her. The feline advisor entered the blonde teen's bedroom via the window. She looked at Usagi's form, and frowned. The girl was such a slacker. She would have to surprise Usagi in order to get her attention. Usagi was indeed oblivious to what was going on. She was about to doze off when she heard an unfamiliar female's voice ordered her to wake up.

"This is no time to be sleeping, Usagi. You have work to do," the voice continued.

Usagi slowly sat up. The voice frightened her. She flew up in the air off her bed, panicking. When the young lady landed, she saw a black cat with a crescent moon wand on her forehead, coming toward her. She wondered what was going on here. Who did the voice belong to? There was no one else in the room except for this cat. Surely it wasn't Luna who spoke, as everyone knew that animals couldn't talk. Was she having a bad dream or something? She got a hold of herself and looked at the cat. It looked familiar.

"Oh, it's you! You're the cat I rescued this morning," said Usagi.

"I see that you remember," said the black cat.

Usagi was alarmed. That cat did NOT speak just now. It couldn't be. This had to be a dream. Either that or her world was about to turn upside down. "Augh! A talking cat! I must be dreaming! How did you learn how to do that?" Usagi clutched her chest as if she were having a heart attack. Luna saw that she would have her work cut out for her.

"No, you're not. My name is Luna, and I've been watching you for a long time. At first, I had my doubts about this, but now I have no doubts that you are the senshi of justice, Sailor Moon!" Luna told Usagi.

"You mean, like Sailor V? But how can that be?" questioned Usagi.

Luna sighed. She really _did_ have her work cut out for her.

"Oh, I see that you don't believe my words. I have other ways to convince you," said Luna. She did a somersault, and an orangey colored crescent moon locket appeared. It dropped on the bed in front of Usagi. She picked it up.

"Wow, what is this?" she asked.

"A special locket," Luna replied.

"For my school uniform? It'll look so beautiful!" squealed Usagi.

Luna gave an exasperated sigh at the girl's cluelessness.

"No. Evil forces have appeared on this earth. That locket will help you fight them."

"Now hold it and shout, Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" ordered Luna.

"Why?" Usagi asked.

The feline advisor was becoming weary of Usagi's many questions. She wished that she would just do as she was told.

"Because your best friend, Naru, is in danger," Luna said, getting slightly impatient with Usagi.

"Oh," Usagi said. That got her attention. She couldn't bear the thought of her closest friends being in danger.

"Now do it!" Luna said.

"All right!" agreed Usagi. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" Her regular uniform turned into a sailor suit. The suit's skirt was considerably shorter than her uniform. Usagi was looking at herself in the mirror when she heard Naru calling for help.

"Oh no! That's Naru!" Sailor Moon whispered.

"I see that you believe me. Now follow me," said Luna.

Sailor Moon did as she was told.

* * *

At the Osa.P store, Morga was strangling Naru, a girl with short frizzy orangey red tresses.

"Someone save me from this old witch!" cried Naru.

"No one can hear you, little girl!" Morga laughed. Naru was beginning to lose consciousness.

"Hey, you old hag! Let go of my friend right now!" a female's voice ordered.

Morga spun around sharply, letting go of Naru in the process. Naru fell to the ground, unconscious. She saw a girl whose blonde hair was pulled into pigtails, dressed in a sailor fuku.

"Who are you?" asked the ugly woman.

"I am the pretty sailor soldier of justice, Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I shall punish you!" said Sailor Moon.

Morga looked at Sailor Moon and frowned. She thought the girl looked so feeble, and so, she wasn't intimidated by her, whoever she was. She would pay for the interruption.

"I'm not impressed! You're no match for me!" said the youma. She ordered the people who were wearing the jewelry to attack.

Sailor Moon screamed and ran. Luna could not believe her eyes. The "so called" champion of justice was a wimp. At this rate, the universe would cease to exist. Luna thought to herself that she'd better awaken the other senshi as soon as possible.

"Sailor Moon! You should be fighting, not running away," she said.

Sailor Moon fell down.

"But I don't know how to fight! I wanna go home!" whined Sailor Moon.

Morga thought this was so amusing. The wimp had the gall to threaten her, but was too frightened to back up her threats. Destroying the imbecile would be a piece of cake.

"Then I'll set you free for good!" she snapped, lunging at Sailor Moon.

"Ahh!" Sailor Moon screamed.

It looked like the heroine was done for, but something unexpected happened. A red rose stopped Morga and the customers. Morga looked up sharply. She saw a man in a cape, tuxedo, top hat and mask.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I am Tuxedo Kamen, defender of those who fight against evil. Sailor Moon, get up and fight. It is your destiny," said Tuxedo Kamen.

"But I don't wanna!" Sailor Moon protested. She proceeded to scream and cry like a baby.

Morga and the possessed customers covered their ears in pain. The customers fell to the ground.

"Quit that hell forsaken noise!" Morga shouted.

Luna was appalled. Not only was Morga annoyed, but the crying stunned her and the brainwashed customers. Who would have thought that crying would make an effective weapon? "Sailor Moon, you can stop now. Throw your tiara and shout, Moon Tiara Action!"

"Okay. If you say so," said Sailor Moon, a bit doubtfully. She took off her tiara and threw it at Morga.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

The tiara turned into an energy Frisbee. It hurtled towards Morga. She knew that it was too late for her, and that dodging the attack was futile. She couldn't believe that the moon brat was going to win. The tiara hit her and she screamed as she turned into moon dust.

"You've done very well, Sailor Moon. Now, Mrs. Osaka and the others are free. Do not be afraid to fight. I shall battle with you," said Tuxedo Kamen kindly. With that, he disappeared.

"He's so handsome," gasped Sailor Moon, red hearts appearing in her eyes. If what he said was the case, she didn't mind being a super heroine so much anymore.

"Sailor Moon! Please talk to me! Are you all right?" Luna asked.

"Yes, I'm okay," replied Sailor Moon.

* * *

The energy that Jadeite was collecting disappeared. This made him very angry. And he would have to come up with a decent explanation for the failure. He wasn't looking forward to that one bit.

"Morga failed," he muttered in disgust. With that, he teleported away.

Nephrite was sitting cross-legged on his throne, drinking an espresso. '_Ah, this is the life,'_ he thought as he took a sip. He loved the strong coffee drink so much; it was about as good as the apple cider, and the red wine. It seemed that fully switching to the human foods was the right decision for him.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Queen Beryl was slightly displeased by Jadeite's failure. However, she decided to let the mistake go as she didn't expect the sailor senshi to be awakened this soon. But she wanted the pesky sailor brat to be disposed of as soon as possible. She summoned Jadeite before her. He appeared and bowed respectfully. He was prepared for Beryl to give him an earful for his failure. A sweat drop was threatening to form on his forehead. He really didn't want Beryl to see him sweat. Thankfully, Beryl wasn't paying attention to that.

"Tell me of your progress!" she barked.

"I'm making very good progress, my queen. I have discovered that humans spend a lot of energy on an emotion called love," Jadeite said.

Love. It was such a sickening and ridiculous emotion, in Beryl's eyes. It made the wicked queen feel nauseous.

"Yes, I've heard of it. It's such a foolish emotion," said Queen Beryl. She then ordered Jadeite to tell her his plan.

"My servant Flow and I will have the humans request love songs in a concert hall. Researching the songs will be a lot of work, but it'll be worth it," said Jadeite with an evil smirk.

Beryl thought about the plan for a moment. She had to admit that the plan sounded promising. Such moronic emotions could be put to better use. After all, the humans were only wasting it.

"Very interesting plan. Do not disappoint me this time!" she barked.

"Yes, Queen Beryl," replied Jadeite. He gave another bow and teleported away. He was relieved and surprised that Beryl didn't tell him anything else, and that she didn't chew him out as he expected. Still, he was determined to be rid of that Sailor Moon. Whoever the little girl was, she certainly was a thorn in his side. He silently degraded himself for letting a child annoy him so. It was understandable, though, for having his plans foiled was a pain in the butt. He went to find Flow so he could make more plans with her.

*******

The youma were in the TV room, sitting on the sofa. They had heard about the plan while watching Jadeite's meeting with Queen Beryl on TV. Miki thought this plan was just as ludicrous as the first one. She wasn't expecting him to do any better, though, considering her low opinion of him.

"What a ridiculous plan. It'll never work!" she told Yukari.

"Yeah, Jadeite is so dimwitted, it's laughable," Yukari agreed. Jadeite never ceased to amaze her. Was he really THAT dense? She concluded that he was, since he didn't learn from his first mistake.

Ruby's disrespect for the lower ranked shitennou was so great that she didn't think he deserved that first chance.

"Beryl should have disposed of Jadeite after he failed her the first time," Ruby spoke up. She thought the diabolical woman was extremely foolish for giving Jadeite another chance.

"Now that wouldn't be any fun, would it?" asked an amused sounding voice. The three girls looked up, and saw Nephrite standing there. Yukari was used to his sudden appearances now, so it didn't frighten her this time.

"Master Nephrite," she said.

"I am interested to see if this plan of Jadeite's will succeed," said Nephrite.

Mixed feelings of shock and confusion crossed the faces of the girls. Why would their master be interested, if his disrespect for Jadeite was as high as theirs?

"I am also curious about human music," he continued.

"So am I. I wonder if it's any better than the music here," said Miki. 

The music in the Dark Kingdom consisted of dark, dreary music without lyrics. The only emotion in it was the sinister sound. Beryl also enjoyed playing music with lots of screaming and swearing. The loud music gave Nephrite and his youma terrible migraines and quite frankly, they couldn't stomach the sound of the horrid music ever again. It had the same effect on the other three generals, but they tolerated it because they didn't want to risk feeling Beryl's wrath by becoming familiar with objects of a race they showed contempt towards.

Yukari was confident that the humans would have good music, considering that she loved their food a lot.

"I am sure it will be," she said.

*******

Jadeite was at the radio station, making an announcement.

"Music lovers of all ages, come to the concert hall to request your favorite love songs," Jadeite said. He gave an evil smirk. He was amused by how the humans were so easy to deceive. He was so confident that the plan would succeed this time, considering that love was a weakness of the humans.

Flow was behind him, grinning evilly. She could hardly wait for the weak humans to show up so that she could deprive them of their energy.

'_Such foolish emotions can be put to better use. It is a perfect tool for aiding in the resurrection of the great Queen Metallia.' _the fierce woman thought to herself.

Usagi was lying in bed, listening to the radio. When she heard the announcement, she was excited. There were quite a few love songs she enjoyed very much. Plus, she loved being the center of attention in these situations. She wanted to be heard over the radio.

"Ooh, I wanna go," she squealed.

Luna groaned, Usagi was always daydreaming at the wrong place and time. She seldomly took her duties seriously. That was a flaw that frustrated the feline to no end.

"Usagi! Shouldn't you be doing your homework?"

The blonde girl was aware of the fact that she had homework to do. Boy, did she hate homework. When she did try to study, she ended up drifting off to sleep, that's how tiresome she found it. It was pointless to tell Luna that, though.

"It can wait. I'm going to the concert hall," she said casually.

Luna couldn't believe what Usagi just said. She was actually going to skip homework for something as frivolous as _that?_ She couldn't be serious. Luna now knew that the girl was a terrible procrastinator. Something that would be her downfall as a heroine if she kept it up.

"You know, you really need to be more serious," Luna scolded.

Usagi sighed. There Luna was again, lecturing her. She considered Luna's nagging rather irritating, as it would not change her mind. She would never understand why school was so important. In her mind, it was only slightly better than capital punishment.

"Luna, you're so old fashioned."

Luna gave an exasperated sigh at Usagi's stubbornness. What was she going to do with her?

*******

Jadeite and his youma were setting up things at the concert hall. Flow had made a sign that gave all the necessary details: what it was, and a reminder to not forget that the theme was love. The decorations on the sign were creative. The colors that symbolized love were used. Jadeite was impressed.

"Great work, Flow. Those humans will not suspect a thing," he said, taking a look at the sign.

Flow was proud of her handiwork. Using the exact designs that humans typically used for decoration was a perfect way to ensnare them. She smirked evilly. The mortals wouldn't know what hit them, until it was too late. Trapping humans was her specialty.

"Those stupid humans are so gullible."

Jadeite agreed with her. "Yes they are. It'll be their downfall." He found their vulnerability pathetic..and amusing at the same time.

"I have another idea," Flow told Jadeite.

"What's that?" Jadeite asked. He was eager to hear all of the possible ideas.

"To thank those humans for coming, we should give them special flower pins. These flower pins will drain their energy," said Flow, showing Jadeite a flower pin.

Jadeite really liked that idea. What better way to further trap the humans than giving them something that looked harmless and beautiful on the outside? As far as he was concerned, he was surrounded by an evil genius.

"Superb idea," he told the woman. He gave an evil laugh, and then made another announcement on the radio.

"This is J. Dite again. After the request line, there will be presents for each and every one of you. So don't go away."

'_And all of your energy will be ours,'_ thought Flow. 

Fifteen minutes later, people started to arrive. They took their seats.

_'Excellent. I knew that those foolish mortals wouldn't be able to resist,' _thought Jadeite, darkly.

Flow was pleased that everything seemed to be going according to plan thus far. She softly chuckled to herself.

Usagi and Luna came next. Luna had relented and told Usagi that it would be a good idea to attend the show under one condition. She was to make sure that she stayed on guard, just in case the Dark Kingdom strikes. Luna had also given Usagi a Luna pen to use on Sailor business. That sounded more than fair to Usagi. She was mildly disappointed that she wouldn't be able to request her favorite love songs, but that was okay. Chances were that other people would request those songs, too, so there would be no need for her to request them.

Jadeite's assistant explained how the request line worked and made a few rules. "And without further ado, I present to you the host, Mr. J Dite!" she bellowed into the microphone. 

Jadeite entered the stage, and walked up to the mike.

"All right everybody! Let the request line begin!"

The request line began, and people started to request their favorite love ballads. The blonde young man felt queasy. He despised the thought of honoring the requests, because it would mean he would have to _listen _to these songs. He was disgusted by the idea of becoming familiar with the humans and their ludicrous objects. He was only doing it because it was part of his job. He played the songs as they were requested.

Nephrite was watching this, using the power of the stars. So far, he was enjoying the show. Never mind that Jadeite didn't seem to learn his lesson from his first unsuccessful attempt from gathering energy. This "love" energy would be a good way to give the evil entity a major power boost—that is, if he could pull the scheme off. That was something he seriously doubted.

'_Hmmm, I must admit that these humans have good taste in music,'_ thought Nephrite. Although he showed contempt for the emotion the songs were based on, he had to admit that they were decent. On the one hand, the songs were very soothing, and on the other hand, they didn't give him an earache the way Beryl's favorites did. The songs that especially caught his attention were the operatic pop and opera songs. He thought some of the pop songs were decent, some of them very mature sounding. He made a mental note to listen for his favorites on television, as well as take another trip to earth and purchase some CDs.

The three girls liked the show as well, too. They hoped that their master would allow them to go with him if he went to purchase some CDs. 

Soon, the request line was over. Flow, in her human disguise, gave all the guests a flower shaped pin.

"Wow, thank you. This flower is beautiful. You're too kind," some of them said as they took the pin from her. They didn't even notice that something about the smile wasn't right, that it was sinister looking, and it looked like a smirk more than anything else. The guests pinned their flowers on.

The woman's evil smirk grew bigger. _'Hmph. Die, pathetic humans,' she thought._

The flowers proceeded to drain their energy. "What is this? I feel so weak," they were all saying. One by one, the people collapsed. Jadeite gave an evil laugh. "Good work, Flow," he congratulated.

"Why thank you, Master," replied Flow. She transformed into her true form—a monster with auburn hair and an aqua colored dress.

Luna was horrified when she saw the people laugh. She knew that the Dark Kingdom was behind it, especially when she saw the "host" laughing. It just didn't seem normal to her.

"Usagi, you must transform right away! There's trouble!" cried Luna.

Usagi took a look at what was going on, hid behind a curtain, and transformed. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

"Hehe, look at all of the love energy we've gathered. Queen Beryl will be ecstatic," Jadeite gloated.

"It won't be long before the remainder of the universe crumbles at the hands of the mighty Queen Metallia!" said Flow.

"Don't be too sure about that!" a female's voice shouted.

Jadeite and Flow spun around sharply.

"You should be ashamed of yourself for toying with one's emotions! I am the pretty sailor soldier of justice, Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish you!" said Sailor Moon.

Jadeite looked at Sailor Moon, and frowned. _This _was supposed to be his greatest nemesis? She looked so weak for that. For all he knew, she could be all talk. If that were the case, there was no way she could defeat him.

"So, you're Sailor Moon, huh? Well, you're no match for the Dark Kingdom," he sneered.

"That's what you think," replied Sailor Moon.

Jadeite had enough with this 'so called' champion of justice. He wanted to teach her a lesson the hard way.

"Flow, dispose of this pathetic fool!" he ordered.

"Right away," Flow said obediently.

"Show me what you've got, ugly!" taunted Sailor Moon.

"With pleasure! Take this!" Flow said, shooting a blast of reddish energy from her mouth. Sailor Moon dodged it as best as she could, but tripped in the process. Jadeite laughed at her. She had the nerve to threaten him and she couldn't even back up her words. Such an oaf was not to be taken seriously. After all, she had showed that she was just all talk.

"What a klutz! Flow, finish her off!" said Jadeite, laughing.

"With pleasure," Flow said, preparing to attack again. Before she could attack, a red rose stopped her. Flow gave an angry snarl. She looked up, and saw a man in a cape, top hat, tuxedo and masquerade mask. Who _was_ this nitwit? Did he not know that it was rude to interrupt others? Well, it didn't matter. She would dispose of him, too, if she had to.

"Tuxedo Kamen!" Sailor Moon squealed happily. She hoped that he would boost her confidence, just as he did last time.

"Attack her!" shouted Tuxedo Kamen.

Sailor Moon slowly got to her feet. Flow, however, was far from pleased. In fact, she was at her boiling point. "Fine, I will kill both of you!" She prepared to attack both the senshi and the masked man, but Moon was far ahead of her. She took off her tiara and threw it at the monstrosity before her.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

Flow couldn't believe it. This wimpy girl was actually going to win! Try as she might to dodge the attack, it was no use. She was frozen in its tracks.

"Aaah!" she screeched. With that, she turned into moon dust. All of the guests got their energy back. Jadeite noticed this, and was extremely pissed. He would have to explain yet _another_ failure to Queen Beryl, and this time, he might not be so lucky.

"I'll be back, and when I return, you'll pay dearly!" he said furiously. He teleported away.

Slowly, the guests got up, and groaned. The last thing they remembered was requesting their favorite love ballads, and putting on the flower pins. Speaking of which, where _was _that woman and the blonde man with her? How did they end up on the floor? And why did the hall look like a hurricane hit it? They had so many questions, but unfortunately there was no one around to answer them. The people decided to leave.

The manager came to check up on things. He took a look at the destruction, and frowned. It would need a major renovation. He made an announcement that the hall would be closed until further notice.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Usagi had just finished getting dressed for school. She went to the bathroom, and decided to check her weight. She hadn't done so in several months, and she wanted to see if she gained weight since then. She stepped onto the scale. In a few moments, she got a reading. When she saw it, she was horrified. The figure showed that she gained half a pound. Though it was _very _minor, she didn't think so. "OH NOOOOOOOOO!"

The wail was loud enough for Kenji and Ikuko, Usagi's parents, to hear. Her little brother, Shingo, rolled his eyes and finished off his buttered toast. There his sister was again, screaming like a banshee. Her instability and flakiness was the main reason he had such a penchant for agitating her. He had love for her, but wished that she was not such a scatterbrain. They wondered what she was wailing about now. Usually, they didn't think anything of it since the young lady _was_ a crybaby, after all. But this scream sounded rather serious. Shingo didn't bother going, as he felt she was just being overly dramatic again. Instead, he decided to drink his fruit juice. Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino went to see what was wrong. They saw her sitting on the toilet seat, looking ashen.

"Usagi? What's the matter? Are you all right?" the blue haired woman asked, putting a hand on the girl's dainty shoulders.

"No, I am not. I have a huge crisis that I need to talk to you and Dad about," Usagi replied frantically.

Mr. Tsukino could hear the panic in his daughter's voice. Whatever the problem was, there was no reason for her to be so hysterical. After all, things looked fine.

"Try to relax and tell us what is the problem is," he said.

"I am so FAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"

Her parents cringed slightly; the whining was so loud that their eardrums were almost ruptured. The girl really ought to lower the decibels. Not to mention that she was overreacting. They wanted to know what exactly was going on, what did the scale say her weight was. As far as they could see, she still looked the same.

"Come on. Let's talk about this," Ikuko said calmly. She and Kenji ushered the odango haired girl out of the bathroom. They led her to the dining room, and motioned for her to have a seat. Usagi sat down, wondering what her parents had in mind. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing to talk about. She gained weight, and that was unacceptable. She liked the fact that she was able to eat all the unhealthy foods she liked and be able to maintain her figure. The ditzy teen didn't know if her metabolism was beginning to slow down or not, but if that were the case, she would be going on a strict diet, which to her meant not ingesting unhealthy OR healthy foods. She feared that the healthy foods would make her gain weight as well, since she got it into her head that eating _anything _ would increase weight.

"All right, tell us, what's the matter?" Kenji said.

Usagi told her parents about her weight gain and her plans to diet.

The two grownups didn't like the sound of that. For one thing, Usagi was _not _overweight, and two, her method of losing weight would be hazardous to her health. Not to mention the exercise she gets from jogging to school every morning. She burned a tremendous amount of calories that way, so what was the problem now?

Shingo considered this idea laughable. His older sister may have been older, but she didn't always act like it. She was more of an airhead than he thought.

"That has got to be the stupidest idea I have ever heard. You know, you really are an idiot," said the annoying nutmeg haired boy. He laughed uncontrollably. Usagi was aggravated. She was fighting the urge to smack the pest. But it would only fuel his antics. His parents were not amused either.

"Shingo, that's no way to talk to your older sister! " Mrs. Tsukino scolded.

"If you don't learn some manners, you will be banned from playing video games and spending time with your friends for a month," Mr. Tsukino warned. He sounded so stern that Shingo knew better than to protest that he was only joking. Instead, he mumbled an apology to an exasperated Usagi. Usagi didn't acknowledge the apology. Shingo shrugged his shoulders and finished off his glass of fruit juice.

The older man turned to his daughter. "You're not overweight. Even if you were, skipping meals is not the proper way to deal with weight gain."

Mrs. Tsukino nodded in agreement. "It's unhealthy for you," she added. "If you want to lose weight, just eat the treats in moderation and eat more healthy foods."

Kenji agreed..he didn't approve of Usagi eating voracious amounts of junk foods.

Usagi sulked. Her parents didn't seem to understand the issue here. "What good is that going to do when I am trying to take my mind _off _food. It's food that did this to me." She didn't care how whiny she sounded at the moment.

Kenji and Ikuko sighed. What would it take to get through to Usagi?

The pigtailed blonde glanced at her watch. Five minutes before the bell would ring. She had been so busy fretting that she had not been keeping track of time. It was very typical of her.

"Oh my gosh! I'm gonna be so late! I gotta go! See you guys later!" Usagi darted out the door and sprinted to school as fast as she could. She was _not _going to get a detention.

Queen Beryl screamed for Jadeite to present himself. He appeared instantaneously. He was a bit nervous. "Yes, my queen?" he answered, prepared for a harangue for his second failure. But his queen surprised him.

"Jadeite, you have disappointed me once again. However, I must commend you on your efforts to find the source of the humans' energy," said Queen Beryl.

"I'm glad you think so, Queen Beryl. I have noticed that the humans are very conceited when it comes to their appearance. They spend energy on an activity called fitness," said the blonde general, bowing respectfully.

Queen Beryl heard of this term fitness. Another human characteristic that she had contempt towards. She felt that the humans were very narcissistic. Yet another reason why she was happy to have surrendered her weak side. The thought of such human behavior made her feel physically ill. Even though she couldn't remember if she paid much attention to her image or not.

"I see," said Queen Beryl. "Perhaps you could put that energy to better use."

Jadeite didn't need Beryl to remind him to do that; it was something that he would gladly do. Why allow the humans to continue to squander their energies on meaningless things such as love, fitness and caring when such vast amounts of energy could be used to power up their Great Leader?

"Believe me, I will," he reassured the witch queen. With that, he bowed politely and teleported away. He decided not to involve any youma in this scheme, but to gather the energy on his own, pretty much. And he had just the plan. He chuckled evilly to himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nephrite was eating French fries from the best fast food restaurant in Tokyo. It was so good it could almost be considered a gourmet version of a fast food eatery. This claim that it was the best that caught his attention. He had a deep interest in first rate objects. So he wanted to be the judge of this "so called" 4 star eatery. It was a rather amusing experience for him. At first, the worker that served him had heard of him before and didn't expect that he would be there, considering how sophisticated and upper crust he was. She tried to hide her surprise, but it didn't do any good, because Nephrite still considered it transparent. The lady got used the idea though, because his appearance there just meant that he wasn't a rich, stuck up snob. Aside from that little episode, she was friendly. As badly as he wanted to shrug it off openly, he didn't. Instead, he had showed as much courtesy as he could muster.

'_So, these are what the humans call French fries, eh? Well, I must admit that they're not too bad. In fact, they're very delicious, which is more than I can say for that pitiful excuse for food in the Dark Kingdom,'_ he thought as he took a bite out of another French fry. He then took a sip of lemonade.

Miki asked Nephrite if he liked the French fries.

"Yes-I actually do like them," he replied. He might not have considered them as good as the gourmet foods as well as his favorite cuisines, but for low class food, they were decent. For one thing, the fries didn't bother his stomach. It was almost sad that he couldn't say the same about the Dark Kingdom cafeteria food.

"Glad to hear it," said Miki. She thought of having some next time she didn't feel like cooking anything.

Ruby was eating some fettuccine that Nephrite was generous enough to get for her. She swallowed, and told him how good it was.

Nephrite raised an eyebrow. "You think so?" he asked. He adored the Italian cuisine himself. It was his favorite next to Chinese and Greek. He even tried Indian and Mexican. Though he found them a bit spicy, they were still all right.

"Yup," she replied. She ate some more pasta, then thanked him for buying it.

"You're welcome," Nephrite told Ruby.

* * *

After school that day, Usagi, Naru and some other girls went to the gym. The pair of best friends managed to get the information out of Umino. Usagi especially wanted to check it out. It was a plan B, just in case her diet didn't work. Her classmates understood, since there were situations that made them want to experiment with dieting. Naru, however, had her doubts about it, but her best friend was obstinate.

Jadeite saw the girls coming. He gave an evil grin. They would soon be in his trap.

_'More energy victims. How grand.' _This would be the deadliest trap ever. He decided to take his deceit and lies to a higher level. The sinister man put his plan into motion.

"Hey there, girls. I'm , your gym instructor," greeted Jadeite,smiling.

The girls were speechless. There were no words to describe how attractive they found this man. They felt weak in the knees. "Oh my, he's handsome," Naru whispered to Usagi.

"He sure is," Usagi whispered back.

"Right this way, ladies," said the "so called" instructor. The girls followed Jadeite to the exercising room. They saw Ms. Haruna and a couple of other women there. _'Well, it seems that Umino wasn't lying when he said that Ms. Haruna comes here. But why would she need to be here? She has the perfect body,' _she wondered to herself as she went over to the treadmill. Naru decided to use the exercising bike. Everyone proceeded to work out. Jadeite kept an eye on them.

'_That's it, pathetic humans. Keep exercising. Soon, your energy will belong to the great Metallia,'_ he thought. After about forty-five minutes, Naru felt out of breath.

"Hey, Mr. J. Dite, I'm done exercising," she said, huffing and puffing.

_'Ha, I don't think so,_' thought Jadeite. She was quitting way too soon. If he allowed that, there wouldn't be enough energy for the Great Leader.

"Hey, you red-head on the bike! Back to work!" barked Jadeite.

Naru was a little taken aback at the blonde man's tone of voice. Her body couldn't take much more. What, did he want her to pass out or something? She was too afraid to protest, though, so she decided to force herself to keep going. "Yes, sir," said the red head obediently. She did as he said.

An hour later, Jadeite told everyone that they may stop.

"As a reward for your hard work, you all may use the beauty spa downstairs," he said.

"Yay!" cheered Usagi. This instructor was just too kind. It looked like things would go smoothly for once..or so she thought. She followed everyone downstairs.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Usagi, Ms. Haruna, and the other girls relaxed their sore muscles. The water was very soothing on the aching areas. It was heaven.

"Wow, this feels very good," sighed Usagi. She drew in a deep breath and let it out. If this was all there was to this "exercising club", she wouldn't mind coming there every day. She temporarily forgot about her depression, and just enjoyed the relaxation.

"You can say that again," agreed Naru. She was relaxing in the other tub. Their other friends agreed with them. Ms. Haruna, too, enjoyed the feeling.

'_Ah. I sure would love to have one of these,'_ she thought. _'That is, when I get enough money.'_And she fantasized about going to a spa with her soul mate, too, whenever she was fortunate enough to have one.

Soon, everyone was done relaxing their muscles. They dried off and put their clothes back on. They exited the room. Jadeite was standing there, waiting. "I hope you all come back again soon," he said. Although it was hard work, everyone enjoyed themselves, Usagi especially. She had made a decision that she would come every day. "You bet I will." She left with her friends and Ms. Haruna. Jadeite gave an evil smirk. _'Next time, your energy will be MINE!' _He was so pleased with how successful business was at the "exercising club" so far, and was confident that business would boom even more, all in good time. Of course, the poor fools didn't know that this "business" was just a disguise for the _real _plan. Jadeite went back to his quarters to think of more possible ideas to fit in this energy gathering scheme.

During the next few days, Usagi was on a crash diet and exercised excessively, much to the disappointment of her parents and little brother. Her parents tried their best to warn her that what she was doing wasn't healthy, but she refused to listen. She was adamant about sticking to the diet until she lost the half pound. Ikuko and Kenji talked about this.

"What do we do, honey? She's not listening to us, and I don't want her to be sick," the blue haired woman confided to her husband.

Kenji put one of his hands on his wife's dainty shoulders. "I know, Ikuko. That's why I feel that something must be done."

Of course, Ikuko knew that. But she was at a loss for what to do, since talking to Usagi was useless. She would be cursed if the solution was under her nose the whole time and she didn't know.

" I suggest that we be firm with her and not allow her to do this any longer."

Ikuko knew what her husband had in mind. He meant that they should insist that Usagi eat. Usually, she tried not to do this, but this was a different circumstance. What the blonde was doing to herself was very dangerous, and at the rate she was going, she would develop anorexia nervosa. She nodded to show her approval. " Sounds like a plan."

Unbeknown to the youngish couple, Usagi had heard every word. She didn't like what she heard at all. It meant that she would no longer be on a diet. She wasn't sure if she lost the weight or not, but if her parents stopped her from going to the exercising club as well, then her plans would be ruined. Feeling distraught and at a loss, she went back to her room. She saw Luna on her bed, drawing something on a sheet of paper. Ordinarily, she would find the thought of a cat drawing tickling. It wasn't so funny this time, though, considering that Luna could talk and that is something creatures couldn't usually do, with the exception of parrots. "Um.." she said. She was curious about what it was that her feline advisor was drawing. The black cat glanced up from her drawing. Usagi saw that she got her attention.

"What are you drawing?"

Luna held up the paper that had a sketching of a morbidly obese girl, dressed in a sailor outfit. Something about it looked very familiar. "It is a picture of my very best friend."

Though Luna was being very subtle, Usagi got the feeling that the picture was of her..at least of an overweight version of her. What was Luna trying to prove? That obesity was beautiful? No. She didn't think so. When she thought about the dangers, about how she wouldn't be able to fit into her clothing, about the ailments that were associated with obesity, and worse, the weight affecting her fighting skills as a senshi, she was filled with dread. The scatterbrained blonde shuddered at the thought of being that size. She would never allow herself to balloon to such a figure. No way. Even if it meant defying her parents. Heaving a loud sigh, Usagi got ready for bed.

The next morning, Usagi lie in bed longer than usual. She knew that her parents would try to coerce her to eat something for the first time in 4 days, so she was going to sleep late on purpose. As much as she wanted to listen to her parents, she was simply unable to bring herself to do it. Especially after seeing that drawing Luna did of her. It was an insult. The silly young girl took her time getting dressed. She felt slightly weak, but she shrugged it off. She brushed her long flaxen colored pigtails and slipped on her moccasins. Usagi slowly walked down the stairs. Unbeknownst to her, the fad diet was beginning to take a toll on her body. She was feeling more tired by the minute. By the time she reached the dining room, she was out of breath. Her family was sitting at the table, having breakfast.

"Good morning," Usagi said with a big smile.

"Good morning," her parents answered. They gave Shingo a look that said, _'What are you supposed to say when someone enters the room?'_

"Oh yeah," said Shingo. "Good morning." He didn't know why his parents were so strict with him about manners lately, but he knew enough not to argue.

Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino both had serious expressions on their face, ones that they wore whenever they had important things to say. Kenji cleared his throat. "Usagi, we have something important to say to you," he said.

Usagi was a little nervous. She wondered if she was in trouble. She looked at her parents, her cerulean colored eyes full of nervousness and curiosity. "What is it?"

" We have noticed that for the past few days you have not been eating. From this moment on, that must change. We need you to start eating again," Ikuko said in a gracious but firm tone of voice.

Usagi's mouth dropped open. She couldn't believe her mother's tone. It left little room for questioning. Even so, she felt that she had to try to reason with her. She just didn't find food fun anymore, and she wanted her parents to understand that.

"But Mom, I don't like food anymore. I'll get-" she started to protest. But her father cut her off.

"No buts, Usagi," he said in an authoritative voice. "You will do as your mother says and that's all there is to it. Am I understood?"

The girl could only nod. Her father's tone had left her speechless. Her lower lip started to tremble.

"We're only looking out for your well-being, honey. What you've been doing is dangerous," said Mrs. Tsukino a little more gently.

That wasn't enough to make Usagi feel better. "Neither of you understand a thing!" she wailed. She grabbed her book bag and stormed out of the house.

Ikuko and Kenji sighed. "What are we going to do?" the blue haired woman asked a bit despairingly.

Shingo, who had found the talk well-deserved, suggested, "Just let her learn the hard way. Then she will realize that you told her this for her own good."

Kenji severely scolded the little clown, and sent him to school. The young boy did as he was told.

So far, school was more of a drag than usual for Usagi, if that were even possible. All she could think about were her parents' words. She had a harder time than usual being attentive. Her stomach was also growling in class, something that annoyed her to no end, and it was embarrassing, too. She felt everyone staring at her. She was about to doze off when she heard a sharp, shrill voice calling her name.

"Usagi! Usagi Tsukino! Come to my desk this instant!"

The spacey girl nearly fell out of her chair. She looked up and saw her teacher motioning for her to come to her desk. She arose and slowly walked to the young woman's desk. She suppressed a nervous laugh, wondering what she did wrong this time.

Sakurada Haruna studied Usagi for a second. Something about her didn't look quite right. For one thing, she looked a bit pale. And she wanted to know why she was walking so slowly.

"Usagi, tell me, did you have breakfast this morning?" asked the red haired woman.

Usagi looked a bit sheepish. She now knew what this confrontation was all about, and she had a feeling that she would be in trouble. "No, I didn't."

"Well, you'd better go to the cafeteria for some food! I will not tolerate my class being disrupted by your stomach growling! And if it happens again you will be in detention!"

Reluctantly, Usagi left the classroom and looked for the nearest snack machine. Some of the students were whispering to each other. Naru was very worried. She hoped that her best friend was all right and that she would return to her normal eating habits. She heard about girls in her age bracket dying from the dreaded eating disorders and she was afraid that she would lose Usagi, too.

About fifteen minutes later, Usagi came back to class, feeling slightly more energetic than she was. But she hoped that Ms. Haruna wouldn't ask her what she ate, because what she did was went to a machine and got an energy drink. She figured that it would be enough to calm her hunger.

"Is your hunger satisfied now?" Ms. Haruna asked.

Usagi nodded. "Yes, Ms. Haruna." Though she hadn't eaten anything, the energy drink _was_ enough to stop her stomach from growling, so technically, she was being honest.

"That's good. Now take a seat."

Usagi did just that. She couldn't wait for the school day to end; she really didn't want to be there.

After school that day, Usagi decided to skip the exercise routine, and went to the arcade instead. She thought that maybe seeing Motoki would cheer her up. He was such a superb friend to her. However, she loved him more than a friend. It was a deep infatuation. All of a sudden, she was feeling fatigued once again. She was also feeling dizzy, and before she could call for Motoki to let him know she was there, she collapsed. All the people around her gasped. One of the players called Motoki from the girl he was helping. A college aged young man with short sandy blonde hair appeared, and saw Usagi lying on the floor, unconscious. He went over to her, bent down, and gently patted the young girl's cheeks. "Can you hear me? Wake up!" he said.

The voice sounded very familiar to Usagi. She didn't have the strength to open her eyes. Motoki placed two fingers on her neck to feel for a pulse. One was there, but it was _extremely _faint. The good thing was that she was still breathing. Not wanting to take chances, Motoki dialed 911. A woman answered the phone. "Hello, can I help you?"

Motoki explained that there was a girl lying on the floor unconscious, and that he wasn't sure of the reason.

"Is this girl breathing?" asked the lady.

"Yes."

"And you are unable to wake her?"

"That's correct."

"All right, then. I will send help momentarily. In the meantime, do not move her."

The young man gave the woman the directions to Crown Arcade, and hung up. He waited for the ambulance. Sure enough, it arrived ten minutes later. Two men came out with a stretcher, and Motoki showed them where Usagi was. One of the men gently lifted Usagi, laid her on the stretcher, place an oxygen mask on her face, and went inside the ambulance. The doors closed, and the large vehicle sped to the hospital. Motoki called Usagi's parents to let them know what happened.

Usagi finally regained her consciousness and saw that she was lying in a hospital bed. She saw her parents sitting in chairs next to the hospital bed. The last place she recalled being was the Crown Arcade and feeling dizzy. She wondered what happened while she was out of it, and who brought her there. Her mother held her hand. "Oh my poor baby," she said.

Usagi realized that she was the luckiest girl in the world, to have her parents by her side despite the foolish decision and the terrible way she spoke to them that morning. She felt badly for doing those things.

"Mom...Dad..you guys were right about what you have been telling me," the blonde girl conceded. At this point she was teary-eyed. "I'm so sorry for being stupid and for the tantrum this morning." She tried her best to stop the tears from falling this one time, but was unsuccessful. They cascaded down her cheeks like a waterfall. She didn't even bother drying them.

Ikuko dried Usagi's tears. "It's all right."

"I promise both of you that I will start eating again," Usagi continued, once she felt like she had control of her voice.

Kenji was happy to hear that. "Good girl." And he hoped that she would stay true to that promise.

"Say, what exactly happened while I was out of it?"

Ikuko filled her in on what happened. The doctors had run tests on her to make sure that nothing serious was wrong. "You may be kept here overnight for observation."

The blonde was glad that she would only be there for just one night, as the hospital would get boring rather quickly. The only saving grace of that was at least she would be away from her irritating little brother for awhile.

Just then, a nurse entered the room, holding a tray of food. Usagi was actually glad, as eccentric as it sounded. The nurse handed the tray to her. Usagi thanked her, and started eating. She realized how much she missed food. _' What was I THINKING, going on that stupid crash diet? This is more like it!_

Her parents smiled at this; they were relieved that their goofy daughter was back to her old self.

Three days later, Usagi had completely regained her strength. After school that day, she decided to go to the gym with her friends and Mrs. Haruna. Luna followed her so she could investigate the place. She knew too well how harmless activities such as these turned out to be a Dark Kingdom trap. Usagi could feel that she was being followed. She decided to just ignore whoever it was. She continued to the medium-sized gymnasium, and followed her companions inside. Jadeite was standing by the entrance, waiting.

"It is nice to see you girls again," he said in the warmest voice he could manage. _' Nice so I can finally steal your energy. Bwahahahahaha!' _

The group of friends and Ms. Haruna nodded in greeting, and made their way to the exercising equipment of their choice. They proceeded to exercise. The blonde man watched them, masking his diabolical grin. He thought that the more they exercised, the more energy there would be able to supply Queen Metallia with. He was especially looking forward to trying out his new energy draining machine. And he had a great method for tricking the weak mortals into helping the plan as well.

Jadeite smirked at how hard the people were working. _' That's right, humans, keep exercising so all of that wasted energy can be zapped out of you.' _ If all went according to plan, Beryl would be very pleased with him. Pleasing his queen was icing on the cake.

After an hour or so, Jadeite told everyone they could stop. They were glad, as they were exhausted. Training was fun, but also tiresome.

"How would you like to try the relaxation pods? You'll feel like a whole new person," said Jadeite.

"Really? Sure!" said one of Usagi's friends.

Though Usagi wasn't sure what these "relaxation pods" involved, she decided to take this trainer's word for it. If it was anything like the spa, he could count her in.

"Good. Follow me," said Jadeite, leading them to the relaxation room. As he led them, he thought,'_These humans are so easily fooled, it's pathetic.'_Little did he know, Luna was watching him.

_'__I don't trust that man at all. And everyone seems to be walking in a trance,'_thought Luna. She followed Usagi so that she could tell her that this isn't a good idea. She had a feeling that the stubborn girl wouldn't believe her, but she would make her listen even if she had to get physical. It was time that she took her duties more seriously and stop being such a slacker.

Jadeite stopped in front of a small room. Inside it were a long row of unusual looking machines. Something about the way they looked sent shivers down everyone's spines.

"Well, here we are. Right this way." He saw fear on everyone's faces. Saying something along the lines of _' You should be afraid, _was very tempting, but the sinister general knew if he said that, he would ruin his chances of gathering energy. So instead, he said, "There is nothing to be afraid of. It is harmless."

"Okay..if you say so," said Naru a little timidly.

"In that case, will you help me in?" one of her friends asked.

"Sure thing," replied Jadeite. Ms. Haruna entered the room, and the girls followed. Usagi, still a bit afraid, slowly followed.

Luna didn't like the looks of the so called relaxation pods. She had an even worse feeling when she saw the girls get in. Their energy was getting zapped. Her suspicions were confirmed. The Dark Kingdom _was_ behind this scheme. She had to warn Usagi about it before she went inside the room. The goofy blonde was just about to enter.

"Usagi!" the feline advisor screamed. Usagi turned around, shocked. She should have known that Luna would be there, but the question was, _why_was she there? Cats were not allowed in.

"Luna! What are you doing here? What is it?" she asked.

"I don't trust that man at all. I don't think you should go in that room," said Luna.

"Why not? It's only a relaxation room." There Luna went again, with the skepticism. It was something that drove Usagi crazy.

"It appears that your friends and teacher were in a trance while they were walking in that room," answered Luna. "Not to mention those machines."

Usagi had to admit, Luna was making sense. Contrary to what the "gym instructor" said, those machines didn't _look_ harmless. They gave her the creeps.

"You can look for yourself if you don't believe me," Luna continued.

Usagi peeked inside the so called relaxation room. Much to her horror, everyone was having their energy drained. Luna was right-it was no relaxation room at all!

"I guess you were right, Luna," she admitted.

"Well! I see that you believe me. Now transform!"

Usagi turned her back to the wall and shouted, "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

Queen Beryl saw all of this through all of her crystal ball. So far, so good.

_'Excellent work for once, Jadeite,'_ she thought, grinning evilly. She was glad that things seemed to be going well so far. But she wouldn't reward him until he actually succeeded.

Ruby had seen what was going on so far, too. Nephrite had sent her there to see how Jadeite's scheme was going so far. Beryl didn't know she was there, though, as she had made herself invisible. She had seen that Beryl had not changed a bit, but in all honesty, she wasn't expecting her to. Though the sight of the throne room made her cringe, it was worth it if it meant that she would be able to give Nephrite information on Jadeite's progress. As if his foolishness could even be called progress. Although the cherry-haired youma agreed that this fitness energy could be put to better use, she was _sure _that the incompetent buffoon of a general would fail. After all, he still had that tragic flaw in his schemes—they were far too conspicuous. And she doubted he would ever learn.

"Hahahaha! These pathetic humans are ancient history," said Jadeite with an evil grin.

"Not if I can help it!" shouted a female's voice.

Jadeite was very annoyed. Things were going so smoothly and some insolent twit had the nerve to interrupt him.

"Who's that?" he demanded to know.

"I am the pretty sailor senshi of justice, Sailor Moon! You have abused the fitness activity!" said Sailor Moon.

If Jadeite wasn't so annoyed by the sailor brat's interruption, he would have laughed at her speech. He found it so ridiculous. It was mind-boggling that such a goof managed to foil his plans. He thought it was only dumb luck. The disgruntled general decided to feign innocence. "Oh? You mean me? I think you've mistaken me for someone else. "

"Yes, you! Don't play innocent! In the name of the moon, I shall punish you!" Sailor Moon went on.

Jadeite wasn't in the mood for this nonsense. "I have no time for you. My brainwashed servants, take care of this nuisance!" he ordered, disappearing through a black hole.

The men lunged at Sailor Moon. She screamed, ran and stumbled. Luna couldn't believe how clumsy she was. "Sailor Moon! You've got to pull yourself together! The lives of the people are riding on these battles!"

That seemed to get the oafish heroine's attention. She got up and took her fighting stance. "Come on you jerks, it's go time!"

The possessed men lunged at Sailor Moon, and she punched the two of them in the stomach. She karate kicked the third one.

"Oof!" the men groaned as they fell. For such a wimpy girl, she was very strong.

"You thugs need an attitude adjustment," said Sailor Moon. "Moon Tiara Action!"

The tiara hit the remaining men and knocked them unconscious.

"Whew!" sighed Sailor Moon. She was relieved to see that these men were not really villains.

One of the men's dumbbells flew toward the energy draining machine and broke it. The machines shattered into tiny bits and all of the energy victims were freed.

In Beryl's throne room, the energy Jadeite was collecting disappeared. He gave an angry growl. Another one of his plans were thwarted! Beryl was very angry with him. Not only for that, but he didn't stay for the remainder of the battle. That was cowardly of him.

"Jadeite! Why is it that you had to leave the plan sooner than usual?" Queen Beryl asked.

"That Sailor Moon is a nuisance!" he replied.

"You sound so pathetic! Get out of my sight at once!"

The blonde young man teleported away, seething. Ruby nearly exploded with laughter, but she didn't want anyone to hear her. So she went back to the mansion to tell her master all of this.

Nephrite was on his throne, drinking a glass of sparkling grape juice. Miki was there, keeping him company. He rested the goblet down. Ruby appeared before him. He looked up at her, giving her his attention. She told him all that happened, ending with Beryl telling him to get out.

Miki snorted with laughter. Not the most elegant sound in the presence of someone dignified, she knew, but she couldn't help herself.

Nephrite found the scenario rather tickling,too. "He's pathetic," he remarked. Of course, he thought it sounded like Jadeite to come up with such an excuse.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Usagi was running to school, trying to make it there before the bell. This was her fourth lateness for the week. She really didn't want another detention, but at this rate it looked like she would indeed get another one. And it wasn't like she had a good excuse for her tardiness. She stopped to catch her breath.

'_What am I rushing for? I'd still be late even if I could run as fast as a cheetah. Detention, here I come,'_ she fretted to herself. She started thinking about how nice it would have been if she were able to run as fast as Luna. Or better yet, if she were able to fly. She was in such a daze that at first, the voice calling to her was rather faint. It got closer.

"Hey, girl! What are you doing? Move it!" yelled a familiar female's voice.

Usagi recognized the voice. It was Naru. Before Usagi could react, Naru grabbed her by the hand and pulled her along. The red-head herself was running late, something very seldom for her. And she couldn't believe that her best friend was literally setting herself up for another punishment. After all, if she gave up, she would be later than she would be if she kept sprinting to school.

The dubious teenager wasn't expecting Naru to do that. The shock nearly gave her a heart attack.

"Naru! I wasn't ready yet! No fair!" she protested.

Her friend didn't say anything. She kept going and didn't stop until she and Usagi got to school. They got there just seconds before the bell rang. Usagi was out of breath by then. As much as she appreciated Naru helping her, she didn't like it happening without warning.

"Don't surprise me like that next time," she whined, sitting at her desk.

"Hey, I was just looking out for your best interest. Couldn't stand to see you get in trouble again," replied Naru. "Not to mention that I don't like to be late, either."

"Hey there, girls," said Umino, looking up from his laptop. He was the biggest nerd in the class that had an interest in computers, insects, studying and science fiction. He also liked spying on other people to get information about them, and that was what he was doing at the moment...sort of. Most of the female girls tended to be annoyed by that, Usagi and Naru especially.

"Yeah, hey there to you, too, Umino," they answered. They sounded less than cheerful. That was because they knew that the geeky boy had a crush on them, but they found him irritating. But he shrugged it off, and viewed it as playing hard-to-get.

"What are you looking at this time?" Naru asked, almost afraid to know.

"There's a concert held by a seventeen year old superstar named Mikan," replied Umino.

"Oh, her," said Usagi. Mikan was one of her idols, besides Sailor V. She adored her music and looked up to her as a person.

"I've always been dying to meet her and get her autograph," squealed Naru. She wasn't sure that it would happen, though, as she was not sure if they were very expensive or not. If they were, the likelihood of her saved money being enough was slim to none.

"Well, you'd better hurry up and get 'em. They're selling like hotcakes," said Umino.

"I'll bet," was all the teenager would say. A part of her was thinking, _'Thanks a lot. You reminded me of another problem.'_

* * *

Jadeite was at his hideout, devising his next evil scheme. He had just discovered that concerts were another popular human activity, and he heard about the teenage pop crooner, Mikan Shiratori. He thought this would be an excellent source of energy. The flaxen haired general summoned his youma, Derella. An incredibly hideous woman with blue skin and yellow hair appeared, and bowed.

"At your service, Master Jadeite," she said in a rather choked sounding voice.

Jadeite told her about his scheme. "Do you have any suggestions?" he asked.

Derella gave an evil grin. "That I do. I was hoping you would ask."

"All right. Let's hear it."

"Why don't we use this singer to help us? For this concert, she can gather people together for the concert so that we could seize their energy. We can also snatch her energy once she does her task..we would have no more use for her then."

Her master thought this over, He thought it was a fabulous idea. What better way to gather energy than to have one of the victims aid in doing his vile bidding? He told his minion how much he liked her scheme. She was very happy to hear that, but didn't show it, because of his cold and nonchalant attitude.

"I am glad you think so," she said. "It is an honor to serve you."

Just then, Jadeite sensed Beryl calling him. He didn't know whether she was still angry about his recent failure or not, but this time he wasn't worried. This scheme was shaping up to be more fool proof than his previous schemes. He didn't like to keep his queen waiting, so he told Derella that they could continue making plans when he got back, and appeared in the witch queen's throne room.

"Yes, my queen?" said Jadeite as he appeared. He bowed respectfully and braced himself for another excoriation.

"What do you have planned for that nosy Sailor Moon?" Queen Beryl asked.

The plan wasn't fully decided yet, but at least he would be able to tell how he planned to go about it. He was just hoping that she wouldn't blow a gasket because that's all he could tell her.

"I will have that so called superstar Mikan help me," the amateur general replied.

Queen Beryl gave Jadeite a small, deadly smile. She had to admit, this scheme was better than his earlier schemes. It appeared that he was slowly growing into a better general. She wouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt, though, until he proved this to her.

"Excellent. That little girl needs to put her singing skills to better use," she said with an evil grin. "Do not disappoint me this time!"

Jadeite wanted to reply that it was not something he needed reminding, but he knew his place. "I won't," he assured the wicked queen. He disappeared, and went back to making plans with his youma.

"I trust that you know what to do."

"Yes, Master Jadeite," the blue skinned youma replied. She knew just the thing to do. She would ambush this teen pop idol when she least expected it.

* * *

Mikan was taking a shower. She was getting ready to rehearse for her upcoming concert. The preparation was going very well so far. She started humming one of her songs. Little did she know, she would soon have an unwelcome visitor, and that she would be a very different person. All of a sudden, she felt unexplainable shivers going down her spine. It was that sort of feeling she would get while watching a frightening scene in a horror movie, when she had the feeling that something would happen before it actually happened. _'That's odd...why am I feeling this way? Everything is fine,' _the brunette girl thought to herself. _'Oh well..maybe it's nothing.'_ She shrugged it off as best as she could, and continued singing.

"From now on, you'll be working for me!" said a spin chilling voice. An ugly woman with blue skin and yellowish hair appeared.

Mikan stopped singing in horror. Now she knew why she felt so much trepidation. This woman looked so odious that it was frightening. She felt like screaming at the top of her lungs, but she was too frozen with fear to do that. Instead, she waited to see what this monster would do.

"Hello, little girl," she said.

The terrified girl was slowly thawing out. She gasped. "Who are you?" she managed to ask.

"Never mind that!" replied Derella. She shot some blue like strings at Mikan, and they wrapped around her. She looked almost like a caterpillar wrapped in its cocoon. She felt so cold and sticky.

"Aaaugh! Ewww! Somebody help me!" she screamed. Her heart started pounding like a jackhammer. This was the worse moment of her life, considering that it was no nightmare.

Derella laughed. "Too bad for you!" She leaned over the tub and reached for Mikan. Horrified, the girl backed away, and ended up hitting her back against the tub. The ugly monster held her hand and transferred her power into Mikan. She flinched, but was too powerless to do anything.

"Hmhmhmhm," the ugly youma chuckled. In a flash, she disappeared.

Feeling completely shaken, Mikan tried her best to regain her composure. It was difficult, though, since she was feeling rather strange, as well as completely discombobulated. She wondered what did she ever do to that hag to deserve being treated so roughly. And the dull ache in her sore lower back certainly didn't help. She hoped that this rehearsal would take her mind off of what happened. Letting out a ragged sigh, she got up and finished her shower, then wrapped a towel around herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nephrite was at the mall, CD shopping. He barely paid attention to the loud J-Pop music that blared in the background. The CDs he was selecting were all composers he recalled from the "request line" Jadeite held, as well as on different music channels he viewed. His CD selections were pretty eclectic. He chose the best from jazz, classical, opera, vocal, choral, new age, J-Rock, alternative, 80s to early 90s pop, soft-rock, and even a pinch of country pop. Of course if some of the ritzy people knew that, they would make snide comments and laugh about it, but as far as Nephrite was concerned, they could save their worthless comments for the other mortals—he had no time for the likes of them. Not that he would have to worry much about that, since he didn't allow himself to be _too _close to the humans. Feeling satisfied, the chestnut haired young man went to the cash register, and placed the CDs on the counter. A young woman that was around his estimated age was behind the counter. Nephrite had to admit, she was rather attractive.

"My, my, what good choices," said the cashier, eying the CDs Nephrite put down. Clearly, she was impressed that someone like him chose a wide variety. It was something she didn't see too much.

Nephrite was amazed by the young lady's friendliness; he didn't think humans would be THAT friendly. He was somewhat indifferent about it, though, and shrugged it off.

"You're that millionaire, Masato Sanjouin, aren't you?" the cashier asked.

"In the flesh," replied Nephrite. '_Wait a minute! Why am I opening up to this mortal woman?' he thought. _That was something that he hadn't planned on ever doing, since he was apathetic toward humans. He had to admit, though, some of their objects were first rate, and he liked that. _  
_  
The young cashier totaled the price on the calculator, and told him the price. He handed her a wad of yen bills.

"Keep the change," he said. Dang, he did it again. Though in a way, there was some other motive going on there.

The cashier didn't know it, though. She thought it was nice of him. He didn't have to do that. "Why thank you," said the woman, handing the bag of CDs to Nephrite."Have a nice day! Come back soon!"

"You bet I will!" replied Nephrite, grabbing the bag of CDs and leaving the store. That was something he meant, too.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Jadeite was waiting for his servant to return. At that moment, she appeared. He had to admit, she returned rather quickly. Was she really THAT good at ambushes? Or did the human get away somehow? He hoped not, otherwise he would have to discard her for her inefficiency. Not something he really wanted to do, as he needed her to help him succeed. 

"So, were you able to possess that pathetic human?" he asked Derella.

"I sure was," replied Derella, a little **too** proudly. "It was a piece of cake." She knew that her master would be **very** proud of her. She was right.

"Excellent," Jadeite told her. He gave an evil smirk. This was one scheme he was looking forward to, and it had better succeed. He didn't want to endure another harangue from Beryl. Though if she grew tired of his failures, a harangue would be the least of his worries. "Let's go put our plan into action now."

Following the rehearsal, Mikan began to feel the effects of the spell. She was thinking of a way to have people come to her concert so that she would be sure that her "new" masters would be sure to have the energy that they so desired. She thought of a good scheme.

_' I know, I will lower the original price of the tickets by 75%,' _ the young lady thought, chuckling evilly to herself. She was sure that people would come then, as the price would be too cheap to turn down. _'And all of those silly humans could kiss their energy goodbye!' _

Mikan was about to go and change into more casual clothing when all of a sudden, a sphere of dark energy surrounded her. She tried to get out, but it was no use. She was trapped. "What is this? Let me go!" the teen aged girl cried, not knowing that the monster that appeared in her apartment was summoning her so she could discuss things with them. She disappeared in the energy, and was transported to an unfamiliar place. She wasn't sure where she was, but it sure was very dark and ominous. She glanced up, and saw a man with short, curly blonde hair and the monster that appeared in her apartment while she was in the shower. Though the blonde was rather handsome, she still thought the woman was hideous, evil spell or not.

"Wh- Where am I?" Mikan stammered.

"You're in our home, the Dark Kingdom, my dear," Derella answered.

"We have brought you here to discuss your plans with us," Jadeite added.

Mikan almost repeated, "Dark Kingdom?" but she recalled the little plot she concocted a little while ago, and so she knew that she couldn't be a wimp if she would be helping these people..whoever they were.

"Oh, that's why I'm here," she said knowingly.

"So were you able to devise a plan?" Jadeite asked.

"That I was," the crooner replied. At this point, she was not so intimidated anymore. She told this blonde man and the strange looking woman about her scheme to lower the price of her concert tickets three quarters.

Jadeite and Derella were impressed. For a human, she was pretty intelligent. They were glad that they chose her as the catalyst for their evil plot. It was really a shame that she would suffer the same fate as the humans she gathered for them.

"Excellent plan, little girl," commented the blue skinned youma. The blonde general nodded in agreement.

"Let us proceed," he said.

*******

Nephrite was showing Miki, Yukari and Ruby the new CDs he bought.

"Wow," said Yukari, impressed. The total was cheap considering how many he had bought. She had some CDs in mind she would like to purchase...that is, if he would let her or the other girls go with him. She didn't feel like burdening him down by sending a list with him.

The star shitennou glanced at the three women, and took the earnest expressions on their faces to mean that they wanted to go with him if he went again. He didn't see why they couldn't go, as it would be just as good for them to become more familiar with the human culture as well. And he wasn't sure why that woman who worked there wanted him to return so badly, but he planned to, as it was a nice enough record store.

"You girls may come with me next time," Nephrite told the youma. They tried their best not to show how glad they were.

"All right," replied Miki, beaming.

"Yeah, let us know," said Ruby.

Nephrite chuckled at his minions' eagerness, and left to hear the new CDs. 

Ruby disguised herself, and told the twins to let Nephrite know that she went to get a ticket for the so called concert. She would be keeping an eye on Jadeite's progress, just as the auburn haired king assigned her to. In an instant she teleported to earth.

Mikan, Derella and Jadeite were waiting for customers at the ticket booth. The possessed young lady felt that it would be a sin for them not to come, as the tickets were incredibly cheap, and that wasn't something she thought they should say no to. Her "colleagues" felt the same. Mikan was worried that Derella and Jadeite would be angry that she failed to assemble humans together for them. Especially considering that the concert was in less than a week. Little did she know, they were only using her as cannon fodder.

"Hehe. You really are a genius, you know that?" the blonde man told Mikan.

The brown haired girl was a bit amazed to hear that. She didn't know if he was just saying that or if he really meant it.

"You really think so?" she asked a bit shyly.

"That I do. You have the perfect bait."

"I'm glad you think so," replied Mikan, grinning evilly. 

The ugly youma was just starting to get annoyed about waiting when finally, a tall slim young woman entered the hall, and walked up to the ticket booth. The woman had cherry colored wavy hair pinned on top of her head and was dressed in a black minidress made of sweatshirt material. Jadeite gave an evil grin. What he did not know that the woman was one of Nephrite's youma, Ruby, in disguise.

_'Ah, our very first energy victim,' _Derella thought. But as she looked at the lady, she frowned. This lady didn't look completely like an ordinary human. There was an ice cold look in her dark eyes. Was she one of them? The voluptuous youma decided that it wasn't important.

Mikan registered Ruby's presence. "May I help you, Miss?"

"Yes, I have come to purchase a ticket for your concert."

The brunette smiled. "Yes, of course." She told Ruby the price, and Ruby paid her.

"Thanks for purchasing," Mikan told the higher ranked youma.

"It was nothing," the young woman said. She took the ticket, nodded a thank you, and exited. Mikan was pleasant enough, but the sight of that ugly youma and Jadeite made her feel a bit queasy. She could barely stomach the sight of either of them, especially Jadeite.

The possessed pop idol watched Ruby go. She couldn't help but notice that the aura she had didn't seem like the type from the average human..it was more of a darker presence. _'What does this mean?'_ she wondered to herself. _'Well, no time to worry about that. There are more important things to worry about.' _

Derella told Jadeite where she would be if he needed her again, and disappeared. One by one, people walked in to purchase the tickets. This caused all of Mikan's impatience, anxiety and worry to fade away. It looked like the auditorium would be packed after all, and the best part is that her two "associates" would be proud of her..at least that's what she thought. Jadeite grinned evilly when he saw more people show up.

_'That's right humans, walk right into our trap.' _It looked like this energy gathering operation was going to be successful after all.

Mikan sold the remainder of her tickets to the people.

"Good work, Mikan," Jadeite told the pop idol, once everyone left.

"Thank you. It is an honor to work with you."

The blonde man discreetly gave a smirk. '_Hmph. If only I can say the same for you, you gullible fool.'_

*******

Usagi was very happy that she was able to afford a ticket. Of course, on her way home, Mamoru needled her for not being more serious when she was on her way home, but it wasn't enough to put a damper on her spirits. She was just too excited, and when she got that way, no one, not even Mamoru could ruin it for her. She pranced around her room with delight.

"I'm gonna get to meet one of my favorite singers! Yipee!" The blonde girl started jumping up and down like a seven year old. She kissed her ticket all over, and put it in her purse. She didn't want to lose it..if she did, she would be crushed.

As usual, Luna had her doubts. She sighed at Usagi's little kid antics.

"Something's fishy about this," she said to Usagi.

There the feline advisor went again, being suspicious about every new establishment that happened. She always talked the blonde senshi out of these things. Usagi felt like she was being deprived of her fun. That was one of the reasons why she wanted to be just an ordinary girl. It was a little annoying when Luna would act like such a worrywart.

"Huh? What's so fishy about it?" she asked.

"The fact that this Mikan sold her tickets at such a cheap price doesn't seem right. I believe that this is another trap set by the Dark Kingdom," answered Luna. 

Of course, Luna was right. The price was just too good to be true. However, Usagi didn't think so. Even if what Luna said was true, she was willing to take the chance since she was presented with this opportunity. 

"Whatever you say," sighed Usagi.

"If you go to this concert, make sure to stay on guard," warned Luna.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the ditzy girl said wearily. She conceded that it would be okay , as long as she got to attend.

*******

Four days later, it was the day of the concert. Mikan and Derella waited patiently for the humans to show up.

'_All right, you silly humans. Show up and surrender your energy to our Great Leader,' _ thought Mikan. She was a teeny bit nervous about her performance. However, her nervousness would be the least of her problems.

Derella retreated to Jadeite's quarters. She would reappear when the time was right.

Ten minutes later, people started to arrive. Ruby came, holding a video camera. She made herself invisible. She didn't want to risk being mistaken for one of the human weaklings, just because of her disguise. Considering that, videotaping the concert could be an extremely tedious way to show Nephrite how Jadeite's plan went, but it would be worth it.

'_Hmm, excellent,'_ thought the budding superstar. She smiled a big toothy smile.

Out in the foyer, Luna was telling Usagi to disguise herself and pretend to be a manager.

"O-kay," said Usagi. She was glad to do that, as she was quite fond of the pen. So far, that was one of the few pros about being a senshi. She had the power to use such a magnificent item. "Disguise Power! Turn me into a manager!"

Usagi's uniform turned into a businesslike suit. "Ooooh, does this look cool or what?" The young girl took a look at herself. The attire made her feel very businesslike and important.

"Good. Now let's go inside. And don't forget to keep an eye on everyone," said Luna.

"Right," said Usagi. She entered the auditorium, along with Luna.

*******

"All right everybody! Thank you for coming to my concert! I have a great show planned for you, so don't go away!" said Mikan into the microphone. _'And thank you for surrendering your energy as well. Silly humans, you're all so gullible, it's pathetic.'_

Ruby knew that this was her cue, and turned on the camera. She knew that this plan wasn't going to work, and was eager to show what happened. Though she had to hand it to Mikan. She did a splendid job, gathering these humans. If Jadeite actually succeeded with the rest of the scheme, which she had doubts about, it would prove her wrong as well as disappoint her.

The audience applauded the young lady on the stage. She smiled at the audience, and bowed. The music started playing, and Mikan began to sing. Her voice was powerful and melodious. All those who knew the song, sang along. Usagi was so caught up in the concert that momentarily, she forgot what she was doing there.

The red haired youma had to admit that the pop star was talented. Her voice was music to her ears, which was more than she could say for what played in the Dark Kingdom.

Mikan performed for forty-five minutes. Some of the songs were slow ballads and some were upbeat songs. After her last song, she decided to put the plan into action...that was, after she did a few "kind" things.

"Okay. It's now time for an autograph session!" said one of Mikan's band members.

"YAY!" a couple of fans screamed. They scrambled toward the teenager. Usagi went, too, but was clawed on the ankle by Luna. "Owww!" she hissed. "What was that for?"

"Remember what you are really here for," was all the black cat would say.

"Okay, okay." The blonde sulked a bit. It was so unfair that she was missing out on all the fun.

The brunette pop crooner furiously signed her name on writing pads and CD jackets. "Here you go!"

"Thanks!" Naru said.

Umino thanked her as well, and also told Mikan how beautiful she was. The singer blushed. Naru groaned. Umino was always doing and saying stuff that embarrassed her. It was like he didn't have any manners. She pulled the nerd's ear.

"Ow, that hurt!" he yelped.

The red-head shrugged. "I am only looking out for your best interest. It would be terrible if your behavior got you in trouble one of these days."

Umino rubbed his ear. The brunette young lady was soon finished signing the autographs. "I would like to give you all something to thank you for attending my concert."

All the people looked at her with curious expressions on their faces. Would could she possibly have for them this time?

Jadeite saw this, and signaled to Derella that it was time to drain everyone's energy. The blue skinned youma possessed the CDs that were in the superstar's satchel. This way, when she gave them to the fans, their energy would be drained and she would feel the effects of it as well.

The seventeen year old singer reached into her satchel and pulled out some CDs. The moment she touched them, she felt strangely weak, as if she were having her energy drained. She wondered why she was feeling this way. If she was supposed to be helping the villains, she should be immune to the energy draining, right? She wondered if she was being tricked somehow. But it just couldn't be true. No way. Mikan brushed the feeling off, and handed the CDs to all the fans. They felt the same effects she did.

"I feel so strange," people were saying. One by one, they collapsed. The fatigue eventually overpowered Mikan, and she collapsed as well.

Luna and Usagi didn't like the sight of this at all. Usagi hated to admit it, but it appeared that Luna was right. It _was_ a Dark Kingdom trap after all. She mentioned this to Luna.

"I see you're learning, Well, you'd better transform, Usagi!"

"Okay!" Usagi chirped. She stepped over the comatose people and hid behind some curtains. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up! "

Derella appeared, and looked at all of the unconscious people. She was amused by what she saw, mainly by how easily Mikan fell for her and Jadeite's compliments, and the "teamwork." She laughed evilly.

" Mikan, you naive fool. You will suffer the same fate as these pitiful humans. Queen Beryl will be very pleased," gloated the ugly woman.

"Not if I can help it, old witch!" said a female's voice.

Derella looked up and glared at Sailor Moon. She was _very _angry about being interrupted. Who _was _this impudent human?

"Shame on you for stealing the energy of music fans! I am the pretty sailor soldier of justice,Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I shall punish you!" said the blonde haired senshi.

The odious monster took a good luck at the so called soldier of justice. She looked so feeble and defenseless. Her words were just empty words. There was no way she would be defeated by this wimp.

"You're no match for me!" she scoffed, sneering at the young girl.

"Oh yeah? Show me what you've got, then!" challenged Sailor Moon.

"Gladly!" said Derella. She shot a frozen blast of water at Sailor Moon. She tried to dodge the attack, but tripped in the process. The frozen water hit her. She whimpered as the water froze her in place. Derella chuckled at this. Just as she thought, the girl was just all talk. Killing her would be more of a piece of cake than she thought. Queen Beryl and Master Jadeite would be so proud.

Sailor Moon was beginning to turn blue, and was feeling numb as well. If someone didn't show up soon, she would freeze to death, or even worse, suffocate. She said a prayer for someone to come and save her. _'Please, please send Tuxedo Kamen to rescue me.' _She was starting to have difficulty breathing when all of a sudden, a red rose hit the ice and set her free. She looked up and saw a man dressed in a cape and had a top hat on his head. She was very happy to see him.

"Tuxedo Kamen, you're here!"

However, Derella was far from pleased. 

"Drat!" she spat. " It doesn't matter, I will destroy you, too!"

The masked man ignored her, gave Moon some encouraging words, and left. The youma was going after him to see if she could catch him.

"Sailor Moon! Don't let her escape," said Luna, running up to the young heroine.

"I'm on it, Luna!" said Sailor Moon. She took off her tiara and threw it at Derella. "Moon Tiara Action!"

Derella couldn't see it as she was facing the other way. When she realized what was going on, it was too late to block it.

"AHHH!" she screamed as the tiara hit her. All the people got their energy back.

Ruby turned off the video camera. _'Just as I thought. Now the idiot's humiliation is there for Master Nephrite to see.' She teleported away, surrounded by a swirl of crystal shards. _

*******

Nephrite was listening to a soothing new age record in the den. It made him feel very calm and relaxed. He nearly forgot that he had sent Ruby out on a mission, for a second. Of course, it would not take a genius to know how the plan would turn out. It wouldn't surprise him if Jadeite failed again. He waited for the sassy young woman to return. He didn't have to wait long. She showed up at that very moment, clutching a video tape in her hands.

"Master Nephrite?" she said, bowing respectfully. 

"What is it?" he asked. 

"Here are the events of Jadeite's latest scheme."

The star king gave an amused smirk. "Excellent." He was prepared to see that the lower ranked shitennou had failed, but wanted to see it all the way through.

The red-head popped the video in the fancy VCR, and rewound it to the beginning. That done, she pressed play and sat on the large sofa, her long slim legs crossed. She began to watch with Nephrite. The concert was rather boring to watch the second time around, but Ruby sat through it anyway. She muffled a chuckle at the scene where Moon was turned into an icicle. Nephrite found it humorous as well. He started thinking about how easy a time he would have defeating her, when it was his turn.

The young woman couldn't help but snort with laughter when Tuxedo Kamen appeared. She thought he looked like such a doofus.

Nephrite was getting the picture. The only reason the pigtailed senshi reached it this far was because of this masked man. _'She cannot hold her own in a battle if her life depended on it.' _

Just like the previous times, Sailor Moon managed to outwit Jadeite.

"Why am I not surprised at this," said Nephrite.

"He's such a loser," Ruby commented.

"That he is. It shan't be too long, now."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Jadeite was musing over the new information he just learned about the humans in Tokyo, or rather, the students. It turned out that they were expected to be very studious people that worked arduously in their academics, and that they often used computers to aid them with their studies. Now that was something he considered much more interesting than the other stuff he found out about them. Sounded similar to the way he worked hard. _'However, those sappy humans are only wasting their energy..energy that can be used to replenish Metallia's energy. I will seize it.'_

Of course, Beryl would agree..that is, if her mind wasn't too consumed with fury because of his last failure. He would have to do everything in his power to make sure that annoying germ of a senshi didn't interfere, but that was okay. Suddenly, an idea came to him. What better way to destroy the pathetic humans than to turn one of their own academic tools against them? This "computer" came to mind. And the more he thought of the idea, the more he liked it. The slightly grumpy shitennou proceeded to think about how he would go about this scheme. At that moment, he heard Beryl calling him. He appeared in Queen Beryl's throne room, and bowed respectfully.

"Good news, Queen Beryl. I have discovered another human's energy source." Jadeite was speaking a bit slowly. That was because he was nervous. He was desperately hoping that this would be enough to feel some grace from Beryl, and that she would at least listen to him. He tried not to show the evil woman how nervous he was, though, as in her eyes, fear was a sign of weakness.

"Oh? Let's hear it," said Queen Beryl. She was always interested to hear something about the humans that she hadn't seen them do one thousand years ago.

This was just the reaction that Jadeite wanted. He told her how arduous the humans were in their academics, and that they often used a computer to aid them with certain school tasks.

The diabolical queen gave the flaxen haired shitennou a small, deadly smile. He sure was an expert at finding the source of human energy. If only he could succeed, he would be on her better side.

"Hmm. Interesting. Do what you can to redeem yourself." She sounded stern when she said that last statement, and Jadeite knew when she spoke in that tone, failure and disobedience weren't options.

Jadeite bowed again. "You can count on me, my queen," he assured Beryl. He left to make plans. He knew just the youma he would have help him with this plot. He summoned Garoben. An ugly red skinned youma with short, blackish hoary hair appeared.

"At your service, Master Jadeite," she answered.

The bleached blonde told her all about his idea. "I trust that your dark mind can conjure the appropriate scheme for that," he said.

The red skinned youma was thinking about what he told her. Almost instantaneously, an idea came to her. "But of course." She told Jadeite her idea. "What do you think?" she asked.

Jadeite nodded approvingly. "Splendid scheme. Now do your best to succeed."

Garoben bowed. "Understood, Master Jadeite." She disguised herself as a human and teleported away.

* * *

Usagi was in the living room, reading a manga. She knew that she had homework to do, but she was procrastinating, for she found it incomprehensible..not to mention that she _hated_ homework. Especially the subject it was related to. She came to a funny part in the manga and started to giggle uncontrollably. She was howling so much that she collapsed onto the couch. Tears started to stream down her cheeks.

Ikuko was in the kitchen, taking out ingredients to bake a lemon pie for dessert after dinner that night when she heard loud laughter. She could tell from it that it was her daughter. She heaved a loud sigh. _'Oh dear, now what is the racket about?'_ She rubbed her head wearily, she really wished that the girl would laugh a bit more gracefully. She went to the living room to see what the girl was laughing at. Sure enough, she saw her daughter lying supine on the couch, reading a manga and laughing hysterically.

"Usagi, please simmer down," the blue haired woman admonished her. "And you are messing up the couch that I fixed."

The blonde girl looked a bit sheepish. She sat up and calmed down a bit. "Sorry, Mom. But you have to check this out. It is so hilarious!" She showed her mother the funny part. Ikuko had to admit, it _was_ rather tickling. She chuckled a bit. Of course, Usagi started laughing all over again.

Suddenly, Ikuko stopped laughing and put on a very serious expression. She remembered that her daughter had an exam very recently. She hated the thought of her flunking another one. "So, how did you do on your exam?"

"You know that we won't have the results until tomorrow. And why are you so worried? It is only a test." Usagi proceeded to sneak away before her mother could ask anymore questions.

"You hold it right there, young lady."

_'Oh crap, so much for getting away before she asked anything else,' thought Usagi._ She braced herself for another lecture.

"You really must take school more seriously. Your father and I are afraid that you will fail out of school. Please tell me, what are we doing wrong?" Mrs. Tsukino sounded very hurt about this. And that sadness made Usagi feel the same.

"It's not your fault, Mom. It's just that school is so hard for me and it is so boring. I can't take so much stress. It's going to give me high blood pressure!" she said, sniffling.

The blue haired homemaker couldn't believe how dramatic she was being just to say that. "Oh, Usagi," she sighed, "I should be the one to be upset, not you. I don't want you to make the same mistakes I made when I was your age."

The flaxen haired girl nodded to show that she understood. She didn't want to be a shame to her family. "Yes, Mom." She went to her room.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ruby was at a bookstore in the cookbooks section. She knew that her master was fairly adventurous and how much he enjoyed trying different human dishes. She decided to surprise him with a couple of cookbooks that contained recipes for some of his favorite dishes, just in case he wanted to learn to prepare them, or try something new. Plus, she secretly wanted to try more herself.

The humanoid youma walked from one end of the aisle to the other, looking at the different books as she went along. _My, my, my, there are so many books to choose from...this could take awhile.' _It was no exaggeration, there was a broad variety of books. The cherry-haired teenager just hoped that she would find the ones she was looking for. After a bit more searching, she saw that she was in luck. She spotted a few that would spark Nephrite's interest—a gourmet cookbook, one that contained recipes for various desserts, and one for different international recipes. She pulled them out, one by one. _'Whew,' _Ruby thought, sighing in relief. She really didn't want to have to ask one of those humans for help. That would have been an awkward moment. Ruby went to pay for the books. All she could think about was how much Nephrite would like them. She wondered what he was doing right now.

Nephrite was in his planetarium, stargazing. He was gracious enough to give his most powerful servant a little break from keeping tabs on Jadeite's scheme, since she had worked hard the previous two times. He wasn't sure where the girl went, but he trusted her, and so he knew she wouldn't do anything she wasn't supposed to do. When she told him that she was bringing a surprise for him, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He was interested in seeing what this surprise was.

"Stars know everything. Show me Jadeite's next scheme." The stars complied, and revealed an image of a cram school. There were a bunch of students in the class, sitting in front of PCs. There was also a thin woman with dark brown hair. She wore a lime green skirt suit and glasses. It didn't take the star shitennou long to piece together the plan. Using a computer, Jadeite was going to gather energy from students that attended Crystal Seminar, the expensive brand new cram school. He was sure that this scheme would fail..all because of the tragic flaw. However, the higher ranked shitennou respected the fact that the school seemed to be first rate, as well as these "computers" they used. Heck, he had bought himself one of those earlier that week—a mainframe.

Miki appeared in a flash of lightning, and cleared her throat. Nephrite whirled around to face her. He was just beginning to notice how much she enjoyed keeping his company. He didn't think much of it at first, but now he had to admit that he rather enjoyed the company of his henchmen, which was more than he could say for a certain obnoxious general in training. He didn't particularly care to tell them this outwardly just yet, though. He gave a slight nod, to show that he acknowledged the brunette pigtailed youma's presence.

"Found out Jadeite's next scheme?" asked Miki.

"That I did." The star king told her about the scheme.

The chocolate haired young woman wasn't surprised by the scheme. "Just as I thought. The clueless twit will never learn."

Nephrite thought that was a bit hasty on her part, but in all honesty, he couldn't blame her. After all, if Jadeite had learned anything, he would have learned after his first failure. To put it bluntly, he was hopeless.

Just then, Ruby appeared, holding a plastic bag. "Master Nephrite, this is for you," she said, handing her master the bag. He took it, and looked inside. He was confident that whatever it was, it would be to his liking. The woman knew his taste very well, not to mention that her taste was excellent. Inside the bag were 3 rather thick looking hard-covered books. "Hmm," he said, examining the books.

Ruby eagerly watched him, desperately hoping that he liked them. His lips stretched into a half smile. The books had recipes for his favorite dishes. When she saw the smile, she knew he approved.

"Thank you very much," he finally said.

The red head smiled. "My pleasure."

The entire time Miki was bursting to know what those books were. "Oooh, let me see." She peered at the books. When she saw them, she knew she would be using them ever so often. She decided to go and see what her twin was up to.

* * *

At school the next day, there was a new girl at Juuban Junior High School. This girl's name was Ami Mizuno. She had very short blue hair. All the students gathered around the bulletin board in the hall, and looked at all the grades for the mock exam they took. They saw that this new girl came first place. Based on what they heard of her intelligence, they were not surprised.

At lunch time, Usagi, Naru and a short, plump girl with very low cut red hair were talking about how smart Ami was.

"She is supposedly a genius, and is the best student in in the country," Usagi stated.

Out of the blue, a voice jumped in, "It is rumored that she has an IQ of 300. She would make quite a worthy academic rival."

The trio of friends recognized the voice. And it was someone they were not too thrilled to hear, either. It was Umino. He always liked to sneak up on people, much to Naru's annoyance. She was startled, and exasperated as well.

"Don't sneak up on us like that!" she said, smacking the nerdy young man in the back of his head. Umino winced in pain. Man, did the girl ever hit hard. But it was her rather abusive nature that made him like her a bit more. He thought her manners might influence him.

The short plump girl said something a little unlike her. "Something tells me that she is a stuck-up snob. You know how geniuses can be."

Usagi and Naru were surprised that she would say something like that. She usually wasn't so quick to judge newcomers.

"Well," said Naru, "I will get to know her so I can judge her for myself. If she proves to be a snob, I will break all ties with her. I cannot stand snobbish people."

Her best friend agreed with her. Little did they know, Ami had overheard the entire conversation.

_I guess I won't be making friends as quickly as I thought,'_ she thought, sighing. Not that she was exactly the world's talkative person to begin with. In fact, she was pretty shy, and her studying took up most of the time. Still, she thought it would be nice to have some friends. She had to admit that she felt lonely sometimes.

Usagi noticed that the cerulean haired girl was nearby. Judging from Ami's expression, she got the impression that she heard what was said. It was too late to take the words back. Worried that the girl's feelings were hurt, she decided to partially change the subject—to talking about some positive traits about her, like they were doing before.

"I heard that she attends Crystal Seminar, that new cram school," the blonde said to her two friends. "My mom said that it was very expensive."

"I heard that her mother is a doctor."

The nutmeg colored haired boy didn't care..he was just looking forward to challenging the new girl's academic achievements.

* * *

After school that day, Luna approached Ami when she walked out. She crawled up on her shoulder. Central Control had warned her that this new student could be an agent to the Dark Kingdom, and she decided to keep an eye on her. The blue haired girl was a bit taken aback, but relaxed and proceeded to pet this strange black cat.

"Hi there. You're such an adorable little kitty," she said.

Luna responded by purring. She licked Ami on the cheek. Ami chuckled at this. The kitty seemed to like her.

'_Odd. She doesn't seem like the enemy,_' thought Luna. Still, she was not taking any chances. After all, Central Control seemed to know what he was talking about, so any concern he had was worth investigating.

Usagi was behind them, and was watching Ami. She felt like she owed her an apology for what happened, but she wasn't sure how to approach her without making a fool out of herself. She walked slowly behind the girl, thinking about what to do. She had an idea. She could just call Luna, as if to let her know that she was done with school.

"Yoo-hoo, Luna!" The small black cat leapt off of Ami's shoulder and trotted over to the blonde.

"I am so sorry that Luna bothered you."

Ami turned around, and saw a girl with long blonde hair pulled into pigtails. The pigtailed blonde looked familiar. She was the one at school. She could not believe that this girl spoke to her, considering the conversation she was involved in.

_'So the kitten's name is Luna? What a lovely name. And it fits her perfectly,' Ami thought, thinking of the crescent moon on the cat's forehead._

"It's perfectly all right," she managed to reply.

"You're the new girl, Ami, right?" asked Usagi.

"Yes. Is your name Usagi?"

"That's exactly right," said Usagi cheerfully.

"I heard that one of your friends think of me as a snob," said Ami.

The ditzy blonde felt so badly for what was said. She knew that she would need to apologize if she ever hoped to make friends with the new girl.

"That was just gossip. We didn't really mean it," said Usagi, apologetically.

Ami thought it was really nice of her to apologize. It wasn't necessarily _her _ obligation to do it, since it was her friend that hinted dislike, not her. "It's okay."

Usagi couldn't believe how forgiving Ami was. She was so sure that this incident would destroy any chance of becoming good friends, even if she apologized. But now it seemed that she was stupid to worry. This girl was so nice, and she wanted to get to know her even better. She suggested going to Cafe' Amigo for ice cream sundaes.

Ami gave it some thought. This blonde seemed like a potential new friend . She had cram school in about an hour. She thought it would be nice to spend it getting acquainted with Usagi.

"All right, then."

The blonde girl was so happy that Ami accepted the offer. She walked to the cafe' with her. Usagi spent the whole walk telling her all about her favorite places.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

* * *

Ami had to admit, she enjoyed spending time with Usagi. She was so cheerful and vivacious. In fact, she felt like she could learn a thing or two about being flexible from the blonde. Usagi's opinion of her new friend was mutual. She admired her for being so studious, although it was not her cup of tea. And Ami was so well-mannered. She could tell that the blue haired girl wasn't clumsy like she was. She had a teeny bit of jealousy towards Ami's intelligence, as it meant that she wasn't a scatterbrain. Usagi considered taking a page from Ami's book when she got older.

One thing Ami can tell from watching the blonde girl eat the sundae was that she was thoroughly enjoying it.

"So," the azure haired girl began after swallowing her spoonful of strawberry ice cream, "Umino told me that you're always late for school."

Usagi groaned..the nerd had such a blabber mouth. If he told this to the whole world, she wouldn't have put it past him. And it wasn't even always true.

"That's an exaggeration. I usually make it in time for the bell," she replied a bit sheepishly. She ate a spoonful of her hot fudge sundae.

Ami nodded. "I see." She didn't think it was necessary for Usagi to hide that, since she liked the blonde the way she was. Her traits, good and bad, made her unique, and Usagi was indeed the most unique person she had ever met.

The two girls finished off their sundaes in silence. Ami looked at her watch. It was almost time for her course at the cram school.

"Well, Usagi, I must go to cram school now. It was nice meeting you." She really meant what she said, too. She was beginning to think that they would become best friends. Usagi was pretty amiable and down to earth.

"All right," said Usagi. "It was nice meeting you, too."

Ami picked up her book bag, waved goodbye, and left. Usagi noticed a floppy disk on the table, and realized that it must belong to Ami. It was too late to call for her, though, as she was no longer in sight. So she would have to return it. She grabbed the disk and left the eatery. All the while, she thought about her new companion. She didn't seem like a Dark Kingdom in disguise to her. She seemed too kind for that..even nicer than Mr. J. Dite. Boy, was Luna quick to jump to conclusions.

Meanwhile, Nephrite was on his throne, eating cherry cheesecake that he'd gotten from an upscale bakery.

'_Mmmm, heavenly,'_ thought Nephrite, eating another bite of cheesecake. It was so scrumptious. He wasn't sure if it was where it came from or if the humans just had great taste in their "junk foods" (which he didn't consider a huge surprise). Either way, it was delicious. Suddenly,he heard a girly laugh. _'Oh great,' _ he thought, half sarcastically, half annoyed_. _Laughter that grating could only belong to one person—Zoisite. No doubt he came to be a nuisance, which he insisted on doing constantly. And it was so unexpected that he nearly dropped his plate. Luckily, he didn't.

Zoisite appeared in a flurry of cherry blossoms, hovering midair.

"Well, if it isn't Zoisite. What do _you _want?" the auburn haired king asked, sounding highly annoyed. He was trying to enjoy a snack. Just the sight of the bothersome little weasel was enough to make him nearly lose his appetite.

Zoisite eyed the pastry topped with cherries on the plate. It obviously was human food as nothing like that was served in the Dark Kingdom. He didn't understand why Nephrite would _want_to choose human food of all things..though the fact of the matter was that he had envy towards that. He wondered why was his greatest rival always the one to get all the good stuff. But he wouldn't admit that.

"My, my, darling Nephrite, don't you get tired of these human foods? Why not have some delicious rotten spaghetti instead?" asked the tawny haired sakura, smirking.

Nephrite had the urge to wrinkle his nose in disgust at the most repulsive food _ever, _but he wasn't going to give the effeminate young man the satisfaction in seeing him repulsed. Still, he felt that was the most dumbest thing to ever come out of Zoisite's mouth. Now he was able to see through Zoisite's intention; to turn his little "eating time" sour and nauseate him. And having his mealtime turned sour by derisive comments was something he didn't tolerate.

"If you don't the hell out of here this instant," threatened the star shitennou, "I will personally escort you out of here myself!"

Zoisite was partially amused by Nephrite's dark, angry tone, and partially indignant that the slightly arrogant shitennou dared to threaten him.

"As you wish," said the sakura shitennou in training. "I am warning you that one day, your hostility will be the end of you." With that, he disappeared to go and cry about this to his teacher, Kunzite.

'_Hmph! Good riddance!'_ thought Nephrite. At this point, not only had he lost his appetite, but his stomach hurt. That's what tended to happen if one mentioned the horrid food or if he even thought about it. Of all dishes to mention, it was like the obnoxious little rat to mention the absolute worst of them all. Even the prune products were better than that, though the star king had his share of bad experiences with those as well. And as for calling the "thing" delicious? Zoisite wasn't fooling anyone

with his facade.

Nephrite gave a disgusted sigh, and went to put the dessert up for later; it was not an option at a time like this. He was slightly afraid that it would exacerbate the queasiness.

Just then, Ruby entered the kitchen. She noticed that her master's face looked a bit greenish and that he looked slightly irate.

"Master Nephrite? Are you feeling all right? What's the matter?" she asked, looking worried. She knew that she was asking a lot of questions at once and that it was unlike her, but she couldn't help it.

"Nothing to worry about. It's just a stomachache," Nephrite assured the red-haired youma. That made her even more worried, as for all she knew, it could have been the cheesecake. Seeing that Ruby's coffee colored eyes were filled with concern, the chestnut haired young man told her about Zoisite's appearance and what went on.

A part of Ruby was relieved to know that it wasn't what she thought. The other half of her, though, was extremely vexed. And her hatred towards the little sakura grew even more intense. She was angry enough to tear out every strand of hair on his head, but decided that dealing with him in that manner wasn't even worth her time. Not to mention that it was just like him to do something so tasteless and sleazy.

"That scoundrel! One day, his underhanded tactics will be the end of him," she growled.

"That they will," agreed Nephrite. Those words of Ruby's made him feel slightly less agitated. He put up the cheesecake. He told Ruby that he was going to lie down for a little bit. "See to it that no one disturbs me," he ordered gruffly.

"As you wish, Lord Nephrite," said the red-head, unfazed by her master's tone.

With that, Nephrite exited the kitchen.

Ruby went to see what Miki and Yukari were doing, and to tell them what happened.

In computer class, Ami was frantically rooting through her bag for her computer disk. She didn't see it in there. _'That's strange. I am sure I brought it with me,' _she thought to herself. After a bit more searching, a terrible realization came to her. She most likely left it at the cafe' where she and Usagi were. All she could think about was how she would be in a heap of trouble with the instructor. _'Oh well, it's not like I use it very much anyway.'_

Just then, her computer teacher put a hand on her shoulder. She was a bit startled, but then relaxed.

"Congratulations, Ami. You're the best student in my class. As a reward, you get to use the crystal disc that is reserved for geniuses. Okay?"

'_Whew! That's a relief. I was sure that she would scold me for not having my disk,' _thought Ami, giving a sigh of relief. She took the disk from the teacher. She usually got headaches every time she used the disc, but it would have to do. It was better than nothing.

Luna and Usagi were by the cram school. Usagi noticed a sign on the wall. _"The crystal disk is for geniuses to use."_It left her feeling confused, as she was wondering what this crystal disk was, and what was so special about it that only the gifted could use it.

Luna still had her concerns about what Central Control told her about the new student at the blonde senshi's school. She eyed the red-colored disk in her hand. She thought it was an excellent way to find proof about what Central said.

"I think we should analyze that disc so we know the truth about Ami, before we return it."  
Usagi could tell that her feline advisor still thought Ami was the enemy, but she didn't feel like arguing that she was wrong. Besides, what if whatever was on the disc proved that Luna was right? All she could do was cross her fingers that she was right about it all along. It would be a first.

"Um...okay," the moon senshi stammered. "Where should we go to use this disk? We can't go to Ami's school."

Luna gave an exasperated sigh. It seemed like Usagi never used her brain.

"Why, the lab at your school of course," she responded.

The ditzy girl sighed. "School again..." She was not thrilled at the thought. But duty is duty.

"Well, well, dumpling head, it is nice to see that you are looking at something related to education," said a familiar grating voice.

Usagi groaned. That voice meant that Mamoru, her least favorite person, was nearby. She strongly disliked the way he always showed up to tease or reprove her for the way she behaved. She turned around, and sure enough, it was him.

"Why do you always have to come where I am?" she snapped.

The raven haired young man smiled sweetly at the slightly spazzy blonde. She was always flying off the handle with him, when his comments were all in good fun. There was also something he wanted to ask regarding her cat. "I wish I knew the answer to that question. Oh, by the way, is your cat able to talk?"

Mamoru was indeed right about that, but she didn't want him to know, as she didn't think he was in the position to know. She giggled sheepishly.

"Are you insane? You know animals can't talk. And yet you have the nerve to make fun of _me."_ Like a race car, she ran from there as fast as she could, only turning back once to see if he was still there. By the time she got to a safe enough distance, she was out of breath. That was when she realized she was still holding the disk. She forgot all about it due to her encounter with the most obnoxious guy in the world.

"Let's go, now," Luna prodded her.

"Oh, right." Usagi reluctantly followed Luna to the school. She really didn't want to see anything related to school, especially the computer lab. She didn't have a clue how to use a computer. She was a bit irritated with the black cat for not thinking about that before. And she was going to let her know about this..politely, of course. She was in such a daze with her thoughts that she didn't noticed that she and Luna had arrived at the computer lab.

'Well, let's get a move on," she told the dazed girl.

Usagi pulled herself together, and entered. "Um...Luna? Not for nothing, but how are we going to do this? I don't know how to use computers. " She rested the disk down.

Luna didn't bother to answer the question. Instead, she turned on the computer and put the disk in its hard drive, much to the surprise of the young girl. Every time she thought she got the cat figured out, she always surprised her. First she talked, then she drew, now she was using a computer.

"You're a genius cat, did you know that?"

"Anyone can use a computer these days, Usagi," was all Luna would reply. At that moment the screen lit up and some writing appeared. A woman's voice started speaking. Her voice sounded rather frightening. What was more disturbing than her voice were the words being uttered.

_'That's right, keep increasing your mental energy so that it can be used to feed the great Queen Metallia.'_

Luna was horrified. Just as she was told, it appeared that Usagi's new friend was a youma. The blonde couldn't believe what she heard, either. It seemed that the advisor was right.._again. _Now she didn't have that much of a hard time with the idea that she would have to fight her "friend." After all, this friend had tricked her..so it seemed.

"It is time to confront her. Just as I have feared, she is not your friend," stated Luna.

Though Usagi thought it was such a shame that it had to be this way, she agreed. "What if we get kicked out?"

Luna gave an exasperated sigh. The girl could be such an airhead a vast amount of the time.

"Must I always tell you everything? That's what the Luna Pen is for," she said.

"Oh! Right! I forgot about that!" said Usagi, slapping her forehead. She felt like such an idiot for momentarily forgetting about her favorite gadget. She took it out and held it up. "Disguise Power! Turn me into a teacher's aide!" Her uniform changed into a pristine white skirt suit with a long coat. Luna thought she was having a bit **too**much fun with the pen.

"I see that you're ready. Let's go," she said. She and the teacher disguised young lady jogged to the Crystal Seminar school. They climbed a flight of stairs and stopped in front of a door. It opened automatically. Usagi warily walked in, with Luna following her. "Be on the alert..I have a feeling that this is a trap," Luna whispered.

Usagi nodded to show she understood. "Hold it right there, Ami!" she ordered..

Ami was scared out of her wits. She could tell who it was. It was the new friend she made, but why was she here when it was clear that class was going on? Her manners really needed work. The blue haired girl stood up and looked to see who it was. Sure enough, it was Usagi.

"Usagi! What on earth are you doing here?" she exclaimed. "You shouldn't interrupt others!"

Usagi ignored the question and reprimand. This girl was going to pay dearly for deceiving her. "Don't play dumb with me! I know you're working for the Dark Kingdom!" she said accusingly.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ami. Why was the girl accusing her like this? She never heard of this "Dark Kingdom" in her life. She tried to protest that, but Usagi wasn't listening.

" I can see that you're not going to 'fess up. You leave me with no choice! Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

Ami couldn't believe it. The slightly scatterbrained, academically challenged was actually a sailor senshi. "Sailor Moon!" she gasped. For some strange reason, this was familiar to her. The "teacher" heard the commotion going on, and she was very angry about it.

"What is going on here? Can't I leave this class alone to work for one period? Ami, you of all people should know better than this! You impudent buffoon!" said the teacher, walking up to the cerulean haired girl. She was so frightened. This teacher sounded so menacing. What was going on here? Teachers were not supposed to sound that way. This "instructor" grabbed Ami from behind in a choke hold, and transformed into a hideous youma with red skin and dark gray hair. Ami was even more terrified. She tried to scream, but the grip on her made her unable to.

Sailor Moon was extremely angry about this. It looked like Ami was a victim to the trap. She began one of her speeches.

"How dare you talk to my friend that way? I will not allow you to use a person's hard work for your own selfish gain! I am the pretty sailor soldier of justice, Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

The youma, whose name was Garoben, wasn't impressed, and she certainly wouldn't let this child get in the way of her scheme. Besides, how much of a threat could she really be? Hardly, considering how weak and silly she looked.

"You're no match for me, Sailor Brat! If you answer my question correctly, I will consider sparing you. Name all the different types of computers," said Garoben. Chances were that she wouldn't be able to pass her "pop quiz." Then she would be able to unleash her true weapons.

The blonde senshi frowned. Pop quiz questions in the middle of a battle? What kind of battle _was _this? As far as she could tell, this monster was not to be taken seriously.

"I'm not telling!" she said stubbornly. Not like she knew the answer anyway, but even if she did know, she wouldn't be telling this nut-job anything.

"Have it your way, then! Take this!" said the ugly gray haired youma. She shot razor sharp papers at the heroine, intending to cut her into pieces.

Sailor Moon screamed and dodged them as best as she could. "Ha ha, you missed!" she gloated.

"Drat!" Garoben spat. She shot some more. The girl couldn't escape her powers forever. Sure enough, Sailor Moon tripped trying to dodge them. She thought this was so funny, and that it was enough punishment for now. She decided to "play" with Ami a bit. Ami cringed, wondering what this creature had in store for _her. _Her heart nearly leapt in her throat when she felt the monster grab the back of her head. She proceeded to squeeze it.

"Give me your energy, now!"

"I'll never let you have my energy! Now let go of me!" screamed the horrified teen, struggling to break free. It was hopeless, though, as the monster was much stronger.

"Stop resisting me! It's utterly futile!" said Garoben. She turned the girl's face around so that she could see it, and she noticed an unusual symbol on her forehead. "What is this?"

Luna, who had been quietly observing the turn of events before her, noticed the symbol as well. It was the symbol of Sailor Mercury. It was time for yet another senshi to be awakened. "She is not the enemy..she is one of us." The black feline did a back flip and a transformation pen appeared.

Garoben was extremely annoyed. "I don't need your energy anyway!" She pushed Ami away. Ami thought that was quite rough, but at least the repulsive creature finally let her go. What was even more shocking was that she thought she heard the cat talking..but she assumed that she was hallucinating. Sadly, she wasn't.

"Ami! Take this pen!" Luna slid the pen towards her. Ami, still feeling slightly shaken, picked up the pen and examined it. It was beautiful and unusual at the same time.

"Hold it up and shout, Mercury Power, Make Up!"

The girl did as this talking cat instructed her. One of the youma's arms turned into a razor sharp ax. "Slice open the deadwood." She raised it in the air, ready to chop Sailor Mercury into pieces. Sailor Mercury quickly got out of the way, and the razor hit the computer screen instead. She swore loudly, and ordered the brainwashed students to attack Sailor Moon while she dealt with the blue haired senshi. The zombie-like students rushed at the blonde like a swarm of killer bees. She screamed and ran, but was trapped, as she was now cornered. "Oh no, I'm toast!" the scared girl whimpered, as she prepared for her impending doom.

Luna was annoyed that Sailor Moon chose this moment to be a coward. Lucky for her, another senshi was there to help.

Garoben congratulated the students, and turned her attention back to Mercury. She raised her ax-like arm again.

"Mercury! Your attack!"

"Shabon Spray!" A barrage of bubbles hurtled towards the ugly monster and created a fog. It disoriented her and made her feel cold. "What is this? I'm freezing!" Garoben was shivering so much that her control over the students waned. They backed away from Sailor Moon and she gave a sigh of relief.

Mercury, concerned, went over to the senshi of the moon and asked her if she was all right.

"Yes I am, but that ugly monster has got to go!" She took the defensive attack as her cue, and took off her tiara. "Moon Tiara Action!" The Frisbee shaped weapon slowly went toward the youma, and she was hit by it. She gave an unearthly shriek as she turned into moon dust.

The stolen energy was returned to the people. "What happened? What am I doing on the floor? " they were asking. Some noticed the crack in the computer screen, and asked, "How did the computer screen get damaged?"

Later that evening, Yukari was in the kitchen, making Nephrite's favorite tea for him. She had heard all of the details from Ruby, and was appalled that Zoisite actually said that stuff. He was more nasty than she had originally suspected. Just thinking of the grotesque stuff made her feel filthy inside. She felt like taking a shower to rid herself of the feeling. She hoped that her master was feeling better. She understood his instructions that Ruby relayed back to her and Miki, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. She knew that he would probably be angry with her for that, but as long as he was better, she didn't mind. The brunette finished fixing the tea, got a coaster and placed the tea cup on it. She carefully picked it up and teleported in Nephrite's bedroom. She found him sitting up in his bed, reading a novel. That was a good sign. At least he was up. And he certainly didn't _look_ sick. She spoke up timidly.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed your rest..but I have come to see how you are. Are you feeling better?"

The chestnut haired shitennou looked up from the novel he was reading. "That I am." He rested the book down to pay better attention to her.

Yukari was relieved. Boy, was Zoisite lucky..otherwise, he would have hell to pay at her hands. Another thing she noticed was that Nephrite hadn't given her an earful for this. She felt slightly more relaxed now. She could just act normal and not be timid. She didn't want him to pick up on it.

The chocolate colored haired youma handed Nephrite the tea cup. "It's one of your favorites."

"Ah. Well, thank you. " The shitennou took the tea saucer from her and took a sip. It was good as always. Not to mention that the semi-hot liquid soothed the minor ache in his abdomen to the point where what discomfort was there, was just about completely gone.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Queen Beryl was very displeased. Not only did Jadeite fail and waste a valuable amount of energy, but another meddling sailor senshi was awakened. Now things would become more complicated. It would be more difficult to gather energy and conquer the universe, and it might take longer than she hoped. Waiting was not something she enjoyed doing. She summoned Jadeite. He appeared instantaneously, and bowed. He was prepared for a major chewing out. After all, he had failed Beryl yet again, and got himself into an even bigger hole than he was.

"Excellent work, Jadeite. There are now two bothersome senshi to deal with. You could not succeed when there was only Sailor Moon, " the evil witch queen reminded him. "How do you plan to deal with two senshi?"

The blonde man was as annoyed as Beryl was about his latest failure. The last thing he wanted was trouble from _another _senshi. It made his job hard work . Not to mention that the nefarious woman was rarely satirical with her minions, but when she was, it meant trouble. Well, he wasn't too worried. He was confident that his brand new scheme would work.

"I have come up with a plan that'll get rid of the brats, my queen," he told Beryl.

"Oh? Let's hear it," said Queen Beryl. She liked hearing about what the mortals were up to these days. And that was information Jadeite was glad to provide her with.

"I have learnt that humans tend to spend a lot of energy when they are rushing to be on time for things. I plan to speed up time, then snatch all of that precious energy."

Beryl had to admit, Jadeite always did a wonderful job discovering the source of energy. But his problem seemed to be succeeding in actually acquiring the energy. An upstart always thwarted the scheme, and this time he had to worry about two of them. "Very well. Try your best to succeed this time," she said sternly.

"I will," replied Jadeite, bowing respectfully. With that, he teleported away, and went back to his quarters to make more plans with his youma, Ramua.

Unbeknownst to the amateurish shitennou and the witch queen, Ruby had heard the plot. They didn't know because she had made herself invisible and were too engrossed in their discussion to notice her presence. She was back to doing her job—keeping tabs on Jadeite's third rate schemes. She thought this one was by far the worst, which was saying a lot, since she thought all the plots he devised so far were ridiculous. The worst thing about this plan was that Nephrite had a very important appointment, and this would ruin everything. _' Is Master Nephrite going to be thrilled or what,'_ she thought sarcastically as she left the throne room, and went back to the planetarium. "Well, Lord Nephrite, you wouldn't _believe_ this scheme the nitwit concocted," she said a bit derisively.

Nephrite turned around to face the red head. "Oh? Let's hear it."

The youma gave him a report of the plan. His eyebrows arched way up. It left him speechless. He considered the plot to be so ludicrous that he need not comment on it, as it pretty much spoke for itself. This was the first idea that he did _not _ think was amusing. And the more he thought about it, the more peeved it made him feel. He could only imagine all the mayhem that would be going on. Something would have to be done to avoid that. '_Oh, great. Now I'm gonna have to leave much earlier than usual for my doctor's_ _appointment.' _Although the reserved general was a reasonably organized and punctual person, he thought this was just too much. If there were hospitals in the Dark Kingdom, it would not have mattered, as it was only the earthlings being affected.

Ruby could tell that Nephrite was not pleased about this, although he didn't say anything. She saw that his brow was creased. She decided to give him some time alone, and went to tell the twin sisters about this. They were in the den, watching a movie. It was on commercial break, so they looked up to see who entered. It was Ruby. "Hey there, girls," she greeted, once she saw that she had their attention. 

"Oh," said Miki. "It's just you."

"What's up, Ruby?" Yukari asked. She nervously played with her brunette curls. "Is something the matter?" The woman seemed sort of grim. She wondered if something terrible happened.

"Oh, no..it's nothing serious," the crimson haired girl reassured the girls. She was a bit tickled at the girls' facial expressions. They looked so apprehensive. Did the expression on her face look that much like an "I have bad news one?"" She hadn't meant to make them worry.

Yukari heaved a sigh of relief. If Ruby hadn't said that, she would've gone crazy worrying.

"There is a problem, though," Ruby continued.

"What is it?" inquired Miki. She was becoming just a little impatient.

The younger youma told them what was going on.

" And so, Master Nephrite is extremely displeased about this," she concluded. "I wouldn't do anything to provoke him if I were you two."

_'Definitely not,' _thought Yukari. She and the other girls had never seen him get really angry, and quite frankly, neither of them particularly cared to see how vexed he could get. Besides, they didn't see any cause to do such a thing. They were too fond of him for that.

"Well, I certainly don't blame him for that," Miki spoke up. "How foolish can Jadeite get?" Just when she thought Jadeite's schemes couldn't get any worse, he proved her wrong with his latest scheme. Yukari said what she was thinking of.

"Something must be done about this. He just _cannot_ be involved with the absurd pandemonium."

The ruby haired youma was a tad surprised at such firmness. Not that she blamed the brunette. The question was how should he get around this time bomb thing?

"I suppose that it wouldn't hurt to find out what he would like to do," she said.

"I'll do that," volunteered Miki. She wasn't afraid to do so. She knew just how to have a conversation with her master when he was in a foul mood. Her sibling admired her boldness. Even Ruby's mind was a bit boggled by it. The pigtailed youma left the den. Her twin realized that she missed more than half of the movie, but decided that it wasn't important at the moment.

Nephrite was on his throne, sipping some red wine. He felt slightly more relaxed than how he was earlier. All of a sudden, Miki entered the throne room.

"Excuse me, Master Nephrite," she said in a polite tone. She hoped that it would appease him.

Nephrite looked up at her. He wasn't too surprised to see her. It was likely that she heard about what happened from Ruby and no doubt she came to make him feel better. Not that he was complaining or anything. He rather enjoyed her presence.

Miki could see that he was waiting for her to speak. She collected her thoughts. "I heard about this wretched scheme of Jadeite's."

So his guess was right. Ruby told her what happened. "Go on."

"Well, maybe you can reschedule your appointment for an earlier time," the henchman suggested.

Nephrite thought about that. It didn't sound like such a terrible idea to him. If all went according to plan, he would be away from there before the chaos began. "I suppose I can."

"All right then. Sorry about this inconvenience."

"An apology isn't necessary, Miki."

True, it wasn't her fault. What was she thinking? At least she now knew that he was going to get around that. "Do what you must," she said. With that, she left the room.

*******

Meanwhile, Usagi and Ami were at Harajuku Station on a shopping spree. Shopping was another activity that Ami very seldomly did, unless it was necessary. This was the first time she _ever _did it for fun. Thankfully, she was with someone who apparently knew all the ropes, who made it seem fun, when one would notice how enthusiastic she was while doing it. And the blue haired girl had to admit that she was having a good time. It was another opportunity for her and the blonde to know each other better.

The two girls were at a clothing store, looking around. They grabbed dresses that looked the most appealing to them, and tried them on in the fitting room. Once done, they showed each other.

"How do I look?" Ami asked Usagi.

"Simply fabulous. And me?"

"You look splendid."

"Why, thank you." The playful blonde admired herself for awhile longer, took the dress off and hung it up in its proper area. Her new buddy did the same. She suggested going to the bookstore. Usagi agreed to, although she wasn't a very avid reader. But since Ami willingly did her favorite things with her, she was glad to return the favor. The girls left the clothing shop and went to the bookstore together. They went to their respective favorite sections, Ami in the educational books section and Usagi in the manga section. After selecting books that were most appealing to the eyes, they paid for the books, and showed each other what was purchased. The slightly academically challenged girl had a hard time grasping what was in the physics book. It had lots of formulas to go by that looked even more difficult than which she did for algebra, and _that_ was hard enough for her. _'I am so jealous..I really need to borrow some of Ami's brain cells if I'm ever gonna be able to understand this stuff..eww.' _The ice senshi, on the other hand, was appalled by what was in the manga books..there were very little intellectual attributes in it. _'This manga certainly can't help build her vocabulary much, if at all. _

At this point, they were both weary, especially Ami. Although she enjoyed the experience, the pastime was tiresome and time consuming. "Let's go to one more store, Where shall we go next?" The blue haired girl stretched her legs.

Usagi recalled the brand new clock store. She could really use an new alarm clock as her old one got broken. Maybe one of those help her to be a bit more punctual—at least for school. Other places, however were another story.

"Let's go to that new store, Clock Look. There's supposedly a humongous sale!"

"Excellent idea! Let's go!" And Ami wasn't saying that just because there was a sale. In fact, she could care less if there was a sale or not. It's just that the blonde was doing something that could help stop her tardiness. They headed for the clock store. Ami sat outside the store on the bench to rest her feet for a bit. "I'll catch up with you in a little while. You go in and look for something," she said. Usagi nodded, and entered the store. She looked at all the alarm clocks. She thought they were okay, but were not what she was looking for. She looked around a bit more until she found one that caught her eye. It was a very snazzy clock that was shaped like a cat. It looked a bit like Luna.

_'Ah, now this is more like it.' _The blonde girl picked up the cat shaped clock. A woman came over to her. "I see that you are interested in this clock. Nice choice. It is 90% off."

When Usagi heard that, she was sure that she would be able to afford it. She looked at the price, and saw that she was right. She had just enough money for it. Saving her money paid off. Just then, Ami reentered the store. "Did you find anything yet?" she asked.

"You bet I did," the blonde replied, grinning. She held up the feline-shaped alarm clock. Her friend thought it looked very unique and cute. She had never seen anything like it. And she couldn't help but notice that it looked a little like Luna. She wondered if the feline guardian would think so.

"Okay then. I'm ready whenever you are."

Usagi went to the counter, paid for the clock and left the shop with Ami. What she didn't know that the woman who assisted her was actually her enemy in disguise—a youma sent by Jadeite.

Ikuko had just come out of the kitchen, baking her excellent Japanese sweet cakes. She knew how much Shingo and her daughter adored them. She waited for them to come home. While she waited, she decided to make some cocoa as well. She had just put the kettle on to boil when she heard the door open and close, and a voice calling , "Mom, I'm home!"

Mrs. Tsukino smiled.. She knew that Usagi was back. Usagi skipped into the kitchen. "Hey, Mom, look what I got," she chirped, opening a small box and holding it out. The older woman peered inside the box. There was an alarm clock shaped like a cat.

"Very nice," said the blue haired woman. "You know I was going to get it for you this afternoon, but I now see that I do not need to. "

The blonde grinned. "That you don't."

"Now you don't have to be late for school anymore." And that was a relief to her. She was becoming rather tired of her not waking up right away, whenever she woke her. And she was also tired of the detentions she would get for her tardiness. She tried not to show it, though.

Usagi noticed a very delectable smell. She sniffed it as if she were a hungry mouse.

"Mmmmm, what's that? It smells so delicious."

Ikuko grinned. "I made one of your favorite baked goods," she said.

"Oh, goody!" Usagi squealed. She loved cakes so much, almost any cake would do. And she especially loved her mother's baking. The girl had such a voracious appetite.

Ikuko smiled at the reaction..her daughter was pretty easy to please when it came to this stuff, and that made her happy. It also embarrassed her to know that sometimes she overdid it with her eating. "Would you like some cocoa with them?" she asked her daughter, knowing that she would.

"Do I? Of course!"

"All right, then." She finished making the cocoa, and poured some for the piggish girl. "Help yourself to some cakes."

"Will do!" The young girl rested the clock on the counter, took a few cakes from the platter and proceeded to devour them. One would think that she hadn't seen food in eons. "You're the best cook ever!" she said in between bites. Of course she'd say that about _anyone _who made her favorite dishes.

Mrs. Tsukino was pleased that Usagi liked it. Usagi decided to show Luna her new clock while she waited for the cocoa to cool. She wanted to know what the black cat thought of it.

"Will be right back. And thanks for the cakes and cocoa!" She didn't wait for a response. She grabbed the box and took it to her room. Luna was on the windowsill, sunning herself. This was the first time she ever decided to relax ever since she found the senshi of the moon, and she had to admit, she enjoyed relaxation once in a while.

"Yoo-hoo, Luna! Got something to show you," the flaky girl called.

Luna groaned. She wondered what Usagi wanted this time. She sighed and leapt off the windowsill. She scurried over to the pigtailed blonde, interested in seeing what she had to show her.

Usagi reached inside the box, took out the cat shaped clock, and held it up for Luna to see.

"See? It looks just like you," she said. "Don't you think so?" The blonde girl hoped that she would think so. So much so that she wasn't expecting the cat to react the way she did. 

"I look nothing like that cross-eyed, plastic, cheap imitation of a clock!" It might somewhat help the girl, but she despised seeing inanimate objects modeled after her. She considered it to be an insult. She felt that nothing was like her, that she was unique.

"Aww, come on, Luna. Lighten up!" said Usagi. She couldn't believe that her feline guardian would be riled over something looking like her. She saw nothing wrong with that. After all, she thought it was an epitome of the saying, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, in this case.

"Whatever," said Luna. "I still think it's a mockery."

"Fine, be that way!" She threw the clock on the bed. Fortunately, it didn't break. She stormed out of the room in a huff.

The ebony colored cat gave a sad sigh. If only she knew the truth about that clock. She sensed a sinister aura from it. She was sure it was part of a Dark Kingdom trap. She vowed to get rid of it first thing in the morning.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Just as Luna suspected, something was not right about the alarm clock. While Usagi slept, the clock emitted an unusual light while ticking. And the light gave off evil vibes. Her suspicions grew more intense when she saw Usagi panic about oversleeping when it was actually two and a half hours before she was supposed to. The blonde girl was rushing around frantically like a madwoman. Luna thought the girl was acting so ridiculously.

"Darn it! I should have set my alarm clock to wake me up at an earlier time!" she hissed, pulling on her socks. "Getting that alarm clock was pointless because even _that _isn't enough to save me from detention."

The charcoal colored feline guardian wanted to say "That's one of the most intelligent things you've said so far for the day" at that last sentence, but all she said was," Usagi, you've woken up much more earlier than usual."

"No I didn't! I overslept!" the girl argued, quickly putting on her slip on shoes. "I should never have pressed that snooze button."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Oh brother," she muttered. "This girl seems to be in a major daze." Of course, that was nothing new but she seemed worse than usual. The little "time warp" was definitely influencing her.

Usagi ignored Luna's murmurings and hurried to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Luna rolled her eyes again. What was it going to take to make the girl get a hold of herself? She realized that it must be the clock. Now she knew she was not insane to harbor such a dislike toward the clock. As soon as Usagi left, she would get rid of the wretched thing, as well as have Ami analyze it. She had just the thing that would aid her with that task.

The klutzy blonde teen came out of the bathroom and raced down the stairs, like a chicken with its head cut off. She noticed that her parents were the only ones up at the moment, but was too busy wallowing in her panic to think much of it. She could hear the sounds of sizzling..which meant that her parents were making breakfast.

_'Sorry, Mom and Dad. It looks like I will miss your wonderful breakfast this morning.'_

"Good morning, Mom and Dad. Gotta go!" she said, bolting out the door.

The two grownups was shocked by the voice as she had been downstairs unannounced. They wondered what was the rush that day. She at least took something with her, but she left without eating breakfast. Ikuko just shrugged and continued preparing the breakfast.

Usagi sprinted to school as fast as she could. By the time she got there, she remembered that she, Ami and Naru were supposed to go together. She was in such a hurry that it completely slipped her mind. She hopped that they wouldn't be too angry with her for that. _'Oh well,'_ the 14 year old thought. _'Too late for that now. They will just have to meet me here.'_

Nephrite was at the hospital for the appointment. Having to do it so early was a real pain in the rear, but it would be worth it to not have to be part of the madhouse he visualized. He was skeptical and wary of certain hospital equipment because he couldn't be positive that he wouldn't be turned into a biology experiment of some sort, and he didn't really care for that. They were mere earthlings, after all. But this was supposedly flu season, and he heard how nasty influenza could be, so he was sucking it up.

'_This shouldn't take too long.' _At least he hoped that it wouldn't. Inside had a stench of...cigarette smoke? Or it could have been something spilled that the workers forgot to clean up. Either way, it was overbearing. Something that the dark general couldn't handle for long. The sooner he was through with this, the better. Just as he was thinking about how nauseating it was and all of the other negative effects it would have on his health, he heard his name—disguise name—being called.

"Masato Sanjouin?" a young woman asked.

'_It's about time,'_thought Nephrite. Patience was not exactly a virtue with him, and under the circumstances, it was a bit shorter than usual. He got up and walked into the emergency room. He just wanted to get this over with.

A female doctor was waiting for him.

"Okay, Mr. Sanjouin. Please have a seat," she said, smiling.

So the mortal woman was smiling, big deal. It wasn't enough to make the young man completely trust her. He did as he was told, and waited as patiently as he could. He had to admit, it was rather interesting to see how this experience would go. The doctor came out with an extra long needle. Okay, not that long—but longer than he was accustomed to. Certainly not a part of his contract. In fact, the dark haired shitennou was freaked out just by looking at it.

'_This human cannot be serious. You mean to tell me that shots are given with THAT? Do I look like an animal that needs a dissection?'_

The sight of the needle frightened Nephrite so badly that he blanched and wanted to faint—or back away—whatever came first. But he was a stronger man than that, so he was going to go through with it. After all, he made it through worse experiences than this one.

"Mr. Sanjouin? Are you all right? You seem out of it," said the doctor, looking concerned.

_'Darn it! This human could see through my fear.'_

Nephrite quickly pulled himself together. He wanted to give a sarcastic remark, but he knew better.

"It's nothing," he replied.

The truth was that he was scared to death of getting a shot. But he would not give the doctor the satisfaction of seeing his fear; he thought that she would laugh at him. Though come to think of it, it was rather pathetic for his nineteen(estimated ) years. Which was why he wasn't going to make a scene. He held back a chuckle, thinking of how Zoisite would have reacted if he were the one getting the shot. The effeminate sakura shitennou was even more wary of certain human objects than he was. Knowing his jelly-fish like spine, the tawny-haired king would have run out of there, screaming. He could be such a wuss at times.

The middle aged doctor had her doubts about that, since it didn't _look _like nothing. But she wasn't going to press it any further. "All right. If you say so," she said. She then told him to stretch his arm out on the desk. Nephrite did as he was told, then closed his eyes. He did not wish to watch this woman prick him with a needle.

'_I hope I don't regret this,' _he thought. She dismissed what he just did, and pricked his bicep area with the needle. He winced a bit, and that was all. It barely hurt him, but he felt something trickling slightly. Blood. Now he didn't think that was so smart of her to do. She had the nerve to make him bleed and then would be frightened by his green blood.

But not this human. Though a tad unsettled, she felt that its color didn't matter to her. She disinfected the area and placed a circular band-aid on it. Nephrite opened his eyes. The terrible ordeal was over. All he saw was an unusual bandage. He wasn't sure what to make of it. He was glad to have made it through the experience without suffering a heart attack or dying of shock, but it wasn't something that he wanted to repeat. Not too often, anyway.

"There. All done," she said."You may leave now."

Nephrite was glad to hear that. He had enough of the horrid stench in the office. Aside from this doctor making him bleed that tiny drop, she did an exceptional job. And she seemed to know how to provide good service to her patients. He paid her a large tip, and left.

Ami was walking over to Usagi's house to go and pick her up. As she walked, she enjoyed the singing of the birds and the cool and gentle breeze. _'Wow, it is such a beautiful day today.' _She enjoyed walking to school on days like these. She was especially looking forward to walking to school with Usagi. She hoped that the slightly flaky girl was ready, that the clock helped her with her tardiness at all. She was almost there when she saw someone coming towards her. The person got closer and closer. It was Naru, coming from the direction of the Tsukino's. She wondered what was going on. Wasn't she supposed to be waiting there?

"Good morning, Naru," the blue haired girl said.

"Morning," answered the red-head.

"What's the matter? Why aren't you waiting for Usagi?"

"Her mom said that she left an hour ago," Naru informed her.

Ami was surprised to hear that. It was just now time to be heading for school. Leaving an hour early certainly didn't sound like Usagi, even if she _had_ woke up on time. She had a hunch that the enemy had a hand in it, but she didn't want Naru to know about it, so she settled for, "I see."

The frizzy red haired girl seemed to have read Ami's facial expression. "I know. That is unlike her. I wonder what is going on..."

"Well, no time to worry about it now. We'd better leave now if we want to be early."

"Right." The two girls walked to school together. Ami had to admit, she enjoyed walking with Naru as well. This gave her an opportunity to get to know the girl better, which was something that she wanted. Naru seemed very friendly. They chatted about how great a friend the ditzy blonde was on along the way.

In the classroom, Usagi was sitting at her desk. At the moment there was no one else there but Umino. She didn't care much for that. All Umino was doing was trying to talk to her about stuff she found boring. She wished she had brought some manga with her so she could read while she waited. _That_ would be a good way to keep the nerd out of her hair.

_'Man, I should never have left home so early.' _Then she got an idea. She decided to take a nap. Surely the irritating boy wouldn't bug her while she was sleeping, if he knew what was good for him.

"Usagi, check out this new computer program I found," said the brown haired boy, turning the laptop around so that the monitor was facing the blonde girl.

She pretended to yawn, as if to show how boring it was. "Shut it, Umino. I'm going to take a nap." She rested her head on the desk. She was about to close her eyes when she heard a couple of voices in the hall. She jerked her head up. _'Sounds like Naru and Ami..took them long enough.'_

It looked like the nap wasn't so needed after all. At that moment, Ami and Naru walked in.

"Hi, you, two." she greeted them cheerfully.

"Good morning, Usagi," they replied.

"It's so good to see you. Umino here was being such an annoying git."

"Is that so?" asked Ami. She didn't know him too well, but she had to admit that she did find him a little unusual.

Naru sighed. "So what else is new?"

"Hey!" shouted Umino, getting a bit defensive. "I'm only looking out for the best interest of my favorite ladies. "

The pair of best friends were about to scold him some more when Ms. Haruna entered the class. She was surprised to see that Usagi was there so early. However, she also thought it was a refreshing change.

"Good morning, my favorite students," she said.

"Good morning Ms. Haruna," the handful of students chorused.

"I just want you all to know that classes will be canceled today as I have a lot of tasks to take care of before my dinner date tonight."

"WHAT?" everyone but Umino exclaimed. They couldn't believe that their teacher just said that.

"You mean to tell me that I woke up early for nothing?" the blonde whined. She didn't like that at all..she thought about what she could be doing.

The red-head teacher put her hand up for silence. " I am not finished." The talking ceased.

"So your homework will be to read Chapter 7 in your English textbooks, and study for tomorrow's algebra quiz. "

Usagi groaned..more studying. Something she equated with punishment and chores.

"That's all for now," said Ms. Haruna. With that, she left the classroom.

"Now what do we do?" Usagi moaned. She couldn't very well leave since she had other classes that were not taught by Ms. Haruna.

Ami decided to get to work on the reading assignment. Umino gave her an approving look.

"Hey Usagi, why don't you take a page out of Ami's book?" Naru suggested.

The flaxen haired girl made a face. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll pass." Studying would definitely make her want to sleep.

"Just a thought."

Umino was worried about his Science Club meeting. He didn't want to be late for that. He hoped that school would end on time.

"Oh boy," Usagi mumbled, "we're in for a very long day."

Her best friend agreed with her. "You can say that again."

After school that day, Ami was on her way home to do more studying. She hoped that what happened at school wouldn't occur again. She didn't like the idea of her classes being canceled unless there was a legitimate reason for it. Even though it gave her the chance to be ahead in her studies once more. Still, her feeling that something fishy was going on grew stronger. Ms. Haruna would have time to make preparations before her plans for that evening after school. Something was just not right about the time.

_' I must speak with Luna about this,' _the ice senshi thought. _' She would know how to approach the situation.'_ It so happened that she was in luck. She saw a familiar black cat heading her direction. And it had something strapped across its back. Something about it looked vaguely familiar. Once the cat got closer, she saw why. It _was _Luna. And she was carrying the cat shaped alarm clock.

"Hey there, Luna," she said brightly. She frowned slightly. "Isn't that Usagi's clock she bought yesterday?"

"Yes. I feel that something is not right about it. It seems to be giving off an evil force."

That made the blue haired girl more worried, even though she didn't suspect that the clock also had something to do with the weird things going on thus far. Yet it also made sense, considering how cheap it was..nearly free. Whether it was a sale or not, the discount was too good to be true.

"How do we find out if it is?" Ami wanted to know.

Luna seemingly smiled. "I'm glad you asked. She carefully rested the eccentric clock on the ground. She did a back flip and a very small computer appeared. Ami looked on in awe. This cat seemed to have all the necessary items that the senshi needed. She wondered where they came from.

"This mini-computer will be useful in analyzing data in battle."

"Oh." In that case, it would be a very useful tool indeed. The slightly bewildered girl picked up the computer and the clock. She took the back off of the clock. Sure enough, it was just as Luna had said. The clock began to glow, and a light zoomed passed Ami and flew into the sky. "What on earth? "

The feline guardian was horrified when she saw that. Her suspicions were confirmed that it was not an ordinary clock. She also figured out that Usagi was influenced by it when she woke up and left for school so early. "I knew it! That brand new store that the clock was purchased from is working for the enemy."

Ami nodded. "I suppose you're right. We'd better investigate that store."

Luna knew that convincing Usagi about this was like pulling teeth, but neither she nor Ami could accomplish this without her. "We'd better let Usagi know of this."

"Right," said the blue haired girl, and went to the arcade to get her. Luna was right behind her. She would be there to back the genius up, just in case the obstinate girl refused to listen.

Ramua, in her human disguise, was in her "establishment", observing what was going on. She grinned evilly as she watched the drivers have accidents on the road as a result of the mad rush. She enjoyed chaos and anarchy very much. Not to mention how successful business had gone for her. The burgundy

haired woman was delighted that so many earthlings had walked into the trap. She thought it was both chivalrous and foolish of the humans to practically surrender their energy to Queen Metallia. They were so easily deceived.

_'So many humans, so much energy...greed is good,' she thought. 'Master Jadeite_ _will be so proud of me.'_ Just then, Jadeite appeared to see how things were going.

"I see that you have lured countless amounts of humans. Excellent work, Ramua. This will be enough to get rid of those 2 nosy senshi in one easy swoop."

Judging from that remark, she knew that the blonde man was pleased with her. "Why, thank you, Master Jadeite. It is an honor to serve you." Jadeite was about to reply that she was such an excellent youma when he heard footsteps in the "store." "It seems that we have an interruption. I'll leave that person in your hands." With that, he disappeared from the place.

In the mansion, Nephrite was in his planetarium. By then, he had recovered from that very unnerving episode at the hospital. As always, his youma were sympathetic towards him about it. He thoroughly appreciated their concerns. Speaking of which, he wondered what was going on with Jadeite's plan. He had never been so desperate to see the small fry of a general fail than he was right now. Far fetched as it sounded, he actually _wanted_ the senshi to win this battle. Yes, he was rooting for the enemy. However, it was for his own selfish reasons. It would save him less inconvenience as well as show Jadeite how silly the plot was. He called upon the power of the stars to show him what was going on. An image of Sailor Moon giving one of her infamous speeches appeared. Only this time, she was accompanied by another senshi—a girl with short ocean blue hair.

_'She appears so feeble...she'd better succeed.' _The last thing he wanted to see was for those humans to be rushing around like idiots the next time he went to earth. Chances are that one of them would bump into him, and he might have to injure them if angry enough.

The star king watched as the purple haired youma lured the girls into following her if they had the guts to. The new senshi touched one of her earrings and a VR Visor appeared on her face. It appeared that she was keeping tabs on the youma's whereabouts. She was also typing on her mini supercomputer, then she pointed to where she and Moon would have to go to find Ramua. Nephrite was somewhat impressed by how bright this senshi seemed. Now Ramua's defeat was inevitable. The next few moments were rather disappointing for him, but at the same time he expected it. After all, the powers of the senshi were minuscule compared to the Dark Kingdom's abilities. And if the monster was so easy to defeat, the battle wouldn't be much fun to watch. Nephrite was thoroughly tickled when he saw the blonde senshi shrink in size. It was boring, watching the clock youma taunt the senshi. The higher ranked shitennou was getting slightly annoyed. _' All right, this is stupid,' _he thought, scratching his head.

At that very moment, a red rose hit the clock. The chestnut haired dark general recognized it from the battle before Mercury made her appearance. Tuxedo Kamen.

_'Well, senshi, it seems that you've got lucky again.' _It also behooved him to be on the alert when it would be his turn to gather energy. He would have to watch out for this foolish masked man. While he was apathetic to seeing him this time, it won't be the case once he was in control. He despised meddlers.

It was thanks to Tuxedo Kamen's interference that the wimpy moon senshi and her sailor friend made a comeback. Nephrite watched as the blonde senshi took off her tiara and hurled it at the odious youma. She gave an ear-bleeding screech as she turned into dust_. _

_'I never thought I'd say this, but good job,sailor senshi,'_ he thought. He could only imagine the diatribe that the younger king would have to endure by Beryl. The image dissipated , and the star general decided to see what his female minions were up to.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Jadeite came back from his meeting with Queen Beryl. It went better than he expected, considering that he was unable to dispose of the two sailor brats. In spite of his queen's fairly lenient warnings, he could tell that she was losing patience with him. And he was becoming impatient as well. He was fed up with the senshi interfering with his plans. It was bad enough when it was just Sailor Moon, but with Sailor Mercury in the picture, the aggravation doubled. The bleached blonde man gave a disgusted sigh, and thought about how he could eliminate those impertinent little upstarts in one simple swoop with his brand new scheme. This scheme involved a Shinto shrine run by an elderly man and his granddaughter who was training to become a priestess. He needed an ingenious way to lure the humans out—something just as enticing as the gymnasium scheme. He learned that another popular human ritual was using good luck charms to wish them good luck in different things.

_'I know..I will sell some possessed good luck charms to those ridiculous humans.' _ Instead of letting his youma do most of the work this time, he would directly involve himself with the scheme, just as he did with the first few plots. Part B of the plan involved the victims being swallowed into an alternate dimension by means of buses. That was where his youma, Kigaan, came in the picture. He summoned her. A humanoid shaped creature with olive green skin and dark red hair appeared. "At your service, Master Jadeite," she said in her crackly voice.

The blonde man told her how the plan would go. "I want you to create another dimension to trap those mortal fools when you are giving them "transportation" from the shrine. Is that understood?"

Kigaan bowed. "As you wish, my master."

"Good. Let us proceed." 

Jadeite and his youma disguised themselves as mortals, and teleported to earth.

*******

Meanwhile, Nephrite was preparing to go to the opera. It was something he wanted to do for quite some time, but didn't find an opportunity to do so yet, until now. He got the opera glasses, and gave himself one last look over. He wasn't entirely comfortable in the tuxedo he was wearing, but knew that occasions such as these called for formal attire. Still, he felt a tad overdressed.

The girls studied his expression, and knew the reason for it. They realized he must have felt uncomfortable in the outfit, and thought whoever came up with the dress code had overdone it a bit. If they were him, they would have felt the same. The girls had to admit, though, that he looked sexy in it. They felt proud of themselves for suggesting one better than the navy blue with the ruffles, or the ordinary black one.

The star general turned to his trio of youma, and reminded them to see to it that no unwelcome visitors from the Dark Kingdom entered the mansion.

Ruby nodded. "Of course." She despised unwelcome guests trespassing on the property just as much as he did, so he could hold her to that promise.

"Tell us all about it when you get back," said Miki. She was sorry that she would miss it. It sounded grand, from what she heard of it. But she knew that there was always a next time, perhaps if he went when he was in charge of gathering energy and was on break.

"That I will," replied Nephrite, and he left.

The youma left the living room and went to the planetarium. A nagging thought came to Yukari, one that had been troubling her for awhile. Ever since Jadeite had been in charge of gathering energy, Ruby had been the one keeping tabs on the lower general's progress. Not once did she volunteer to do it. And the job was open to all 3 women, not just the red head. She began to feel bad. She didn't tell her sister or Ruby this, but she feared that sooner or later that the master would decide that she outlived her usefulness and discard her. The brunette decided that it was time she started acting more like the efficient youma she was capable of being before that happened.

"Hey, Yukari? Is something wrong?"

Oops. She must have showed how she was feeling. Well, she didn't want either of them to know what she was really thinking.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about..really," she assured them as she saw her sister give her an amused look that plainly said "Are you sure?"

Then she continued. "Listen, I will keep an eye on Jadeite this time. You can have a break, Ruby."

Ruby started to beam. "Really?" Not that she had a problem doing the job, but a break was nice.

"Sure."

"I owe you one."

"It is nothing," Yukari said modestly. She conjured a small crystal ball. It would enable her to see what was happening. "If you two are interested, you can watch as well."

"Will do." The women were always glad to laugh at the foolish general's failures. They watched as Yukari shook the crystal ball. An image of the events on earth was revealed.

Jadeite had just finished talking with Grandpa Hino about working at the shrine, and now he was dressed in the robe that the workers wore. He was proud of himself for coming up with a story that Grandpa Hino would buy—that he was a student at Azabu Technical College and he was seeking employment somewhere he could learn about the Shinto religion. He was confident that because of Mr. Hino's age, he would be just as easy to fool as the younger humans, if not more—something he would indeed take advantage of.

_'What an old fool he is,' _thought the blonde young man, masking an evil smirk.

"Master Jadeite?" asked a voice. Jadeite turned around sharply, thinking that it was a female customer coming to pester him with sweet-talk or or something. He had no patience for that sort of thing. His hard look softened when he saw that it was only his minion, pretending to sound friendly. And she was holding a plastic bag.

"Did the old man give you the job?" she asked, hoping that the answer was yes.

"That he did..negotiating was simple," the bleached blonde general replied, grinning evilly.

Human disguised Kigaan gave an evil grin as well. She was afraid that the elderly man rejected her master and she would have bought the charms for nothing, thus ruining the scheme. "Then that means I can give you these." She held out the bag. Jadeite took it from her, and peered inside. It contained some brown colored items, which he presumed were the good luck charms.

"The charms are cursed. When the humans touch them, they will activate within an hour and suck their energy dry."

That made Jadeite smile. His youma was clever! "They will do. Now let's set up this "business."

Usagi and Naru were walking from school together. Usagi wanted Ami to come, too, but she had to go to cram school. The blonde wasn't too disappointed. After all, she and her best friend hadn't had any time alone for a little while. She didn't want Naru to think that she had abandoned her or anything. They had been walking in silence for awhile, and it felt awkward.

"Hey Usagi, I was thinking about Umino said, about the girl who worked at the Hikawa shrine," said the redhead.

Usagi remembered. The girl was supposedly a Shinto priestess that had psychic powers, and she attended a Catholic school. Quite frankly, the psychic powers part sounded creepy to her. Boy, would the nerd make a good agent or what.

"Yes?" said the goofy blonde, waiting for her friend to go on.

"Well, what do you say we check out the shrine?"

"Well uh..." Usagi sounded really hesitant, and it was because she really didn't want to go. She was figuring out a nice way to refuse, but she didn't want to be a wimp. So she managed an "okay."

"Great, let's go!" The two girls went to the shrine together. From a distance, Luna was following them. She had been to the arcade, and was informed by Central Control that the 3rd senshi was at the Hikawa Shrine, that she would know exactly who it was by the aura she gave off. She was making progress with the awakening of the senshi but the location of the moon princess was another story. It would be nice if the moon senshi helped her.

Some of Usagi's classmates had also heard about the shrine, and decided to check it out as well. There was a sign that caught their attention. It read: "Would you like better luck? Improve your luck by purchasing these lucky charms!" A very attractive young man with short, curly blonde hair dressed in one of the Shinto robes was behind a stand that contained the "so called" good luck charms. The girls watched as he sold them.

"Ooo, I could use one of those," one girl said.

"Me too. My luck in finding decent boyfriends is so lousy," another one fretted. She usually thought good luck charms were stupid, but she was desperate.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" The group of friends went to the temple, excited to get charms from such a good looking guy. They were unaware of the fact that this was a trap he was setting for them, but they saw no reason to be suspicious. As they made their way to Jadeite, they were approached by a petite bald elderly man. The girls looked at each other as if to say,"Who is this unusual old man?"

"Hello, young ladies! Welcome to to the Hikawa Shrine! Would you like a tour, or for me to chant a spell that would give you good luck?"

The teens were not sure what to make of it. They couldn't whisper to each other about him, as he was right there. One of them said,"No, thank you, but the wishes would be nice. We are here to get some charms, after all."

"Of course," said Mr. Hino knowingly. He knew of that all too well..after all, his own granddaughter could be boy crazy at times, although he told her that she was not to date until age 16. She resented that, and thought he could be irritating at times, but thought even he was better than her father. He could see that the girls were looking impatient, so he performed a ritual that involved spell chanting. The girls watched, bemused. _'This was going to give us good luck?' _ It looked like some sort of martial arts.

After the ritual was done, he sent the junior high on their way. "Don't chase too many boys, now," he teased.

"All right, we won't. And thank you." The girls walked away. When they were within safe distance, they whispered to each other. "He was so peculiar."

"Yeah, but I suppose it could have been worse. At least he didn't hit on us or anything."

"True." They walked up to the stand. The "salesperson" looked up at them. His stare was so hypnotizing that they got shy all of a sudden. One of them managed to squeak out something.

"Excuse me, Mister..we're here to get some good luck charms."

Jadeite looked up. _' Excellent. More humans.'_ He spoke in the friendliest tone he could. "Yes, of course." He handed each girl an amulet. "Thank you," they said in unison. They handed him some money, and left. The sinister man smirked as he listened to them squeal about how the charms would work.

Naru, Luna and Usagi approached the temple. They saw a girl with long raven hair was standing on the steps, dressed in red wide-legged pants and a v-neck shirt. She looked like she was deep in thought about something.

"She must be the priestess who helps to sell the charms," Naru whispered to Usagi.

Usagi nodded in agreement. The raven haired girl looked at the pair of best friends, and frowned. Ever since her grandfather hired that new person, she had been sensing a sinister presence. It got stronger by the minute. It seemed to climax at that very moment.

_'I sense an evil presence on this premise, and I think I know who's emitting it,'_ thought Rei. She had no idea that it was actually the newest temple worker J. Dite. Naru and Usagi looked at each other. They were wondering why the girl was looking at them so hard. Boy, did she look mean. They thought about leaving. It was obvious that they were persona non grata there. Before they had time to turn on their heel and leave, the priestess to be took out an odufa—a scroll with Japanese writing on it—and threw it on the blonde's forehead.

"No evil doers are welcome on this property!" she said.

Usagi became dizzy and fell backwards, legs upright. She hit her back on the temple steps. She cried out in pain and passed out.

Rei cringed at the sound, then looked guilty. If this girl really were evil, she would have died. What happened surely wasn't supposed to happen. "Oops! Looks like I've made a mistake."

The frizzy red head was terrified for her best friend. She was also fuming. This supposedly spiritual girl was even more obnoxious than she thought. "Oh no! Usagi!" she cried. Her voice then grew angry. "How could you? She's my best friend,you know."

Rei had no idea that was the case. It made her feel even worse. She resolved to be less rash and quick tempered..though the quick tempered part would be rather difficult to change. Still, she would try her best, as she knew that the flaw would cause her to lose friends, sooner or later.

Jadeite was done selling the charms for the day. He decided to "close shop." He came to see if Rei needed anything. "Miss Rei, is there anything I can do to assist you? " he asked, eying the unconscious blonde.

The jet-black haired girl glanced at the blonde man. She felt a sinister presence emanating from him. She somehow knew that _he _was the evil person she had been sensing all this time. But she didn't have enough proof, and she didn't want to start another conflict.

"Very well. You can help me carry this girl inside. And would you get me some ice?"

"As you wish." The blonde general picked up the blonde, and carried her inside. As he carried her, he couldn't help but notice that something seemed vaguely familiar. He was sure it was nothing, though. And he felt disgusted at the thought of helping a mortal. He had to go along with it to hide his true image.

Rei and Naru followed. Rei apologized to the red head for being so rash and harming her best friend.

"You're forgiven," Naru begrudgingly said. "Don't forget to apologize to Usagi, too."

"Not to worry. I will, once she comes to. They all went inside. Jadeite laid Usagi on some sheets, and went to get the ice as requested.

About 10 minutes later, Usagi regained her consciousness. She looked around, and the place looked unfamiliar. The last place she remembered being was the temple steps, and somehow things had faded into pitch black a few minutes later. She saw her best friend and the charcoal haired girl looking down at her. And she was wondering why her back felt as if someone tightly wrapped something around it. What was going on?

Naru was relieved that her friend had awakened. "Usagi! Are you all right?" she asked worriedly.

"I guess so," answered Usagi. She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain tore through her mid-back, causing her to grimace and forcing her to stay still.

"Try not to move," said the black haired girl.

The blonde did as she was told. She started asking a number of questions. "How did I get here? What happened? And why does my back hurt so much?"

Naru realized that she must not remember. She told her friend all that happened.

"Oh really," said Usagi incredulously. She was surprised that someone that was her enemy in disguise would do that for her.

"Sorry about that. Please forgive me," said Rei. 

"It's okay, I guess," replied Usagi. "But it would be nice if something was done about this..I can't stand it any longer!" The last word came out as a whine, but she couldn't help it. She wasn't very good at enduring agony.

Just then, the door opened.

"Miss Rei? Here's the ice you requested," said Jadeite.

"Thanks, J. Dite. Just leave it at the door," said Rei. She gave a sideway glance at the new "caretaker" and frowned. His blue eyes were so icy. Not a good sign.

"As you wish," replied Jadeite, closing the door.

'_That guy looks familiar,' _thought Naru. _'He's that handsome gym instructor.' _

Rei went and got the ice for Usagi. She gently turned Usagi on her side, raised her tattered shirt up, and placed an ice bag against Usagi's back.

"Oooo. That feels good," said Usagi. The pain was still there, but at least it wasn't as unbearable as before. It felt good enough for her to move a bit, though she still had to be careful.

Just then, there was a loud knock on the door. Rei muttered under her breath about people being so boisterous, and opened it. There stood a very angry-looking woman with graying hair fastened into a bun.

"What is going on here? My daughter came here to get some charms, and she never came back home on the bus! I want answers and I want them NOW!" the woman demanded.

Rei began to see red. She didn't take kindly to false accusations at all. And the woman was so loudmouthed and rude. She had enough things to deal with, she couldn't afford to do those _and_ make sure people got home on time. She was going to tell this nut-job so, whether she liked it or not.

"Well, it is not _my _responsibility to make sure people get back home. All of us who run the shrine have more than enough tasks to perform! We shouldn't be held accountable for this! I'm not the chauffeur, so take your business elsewhere!"

That reply made the woman more angry than her daughter not coming home. This girl didn't seem to care about what happened. How callous could young people get? "Why, you impertinent little girl! You have no manners!"

Rei had almost completely lost her patience at this point, but she was trying to keep her temper. "Please leave," she said through gritted teeth.

The woman left, and slammed the door behind her.

Naru wasn't too surprised at the vitriolic remarks the black haired girl told the woman..not after what she did to Usagi, anyway. It was nice that she was showing remorse, though. And not that she blamed her, really. The woman _was _uncouth.

The kid-like blonde was a little bewildered by Rei's temper. She wondered just how she would become friends with her. She seemed hard to get along with, unlike Ami.

Nephrite had returned from the opera. He thoroughly enjoyed it. The music was so soothing. He was in the planetarium with Miki, Yukari, and Ruby, telling them all about it. The experience sounded so glamorous and astounding.

"Sounds like you had a grand time," remarked the pigtailed youma. She would have to figure out a way to convince him to let her go with him next time. Her twin felt the same way.

"That I did."

"I have to admit-the human world isn't half bad," said Ruby in her sassy tone. In fact, she loved some of the things just as much as Nephrite did, if not more.

The star king agreed with her. "I consider some of the human objects to be first rate." His tone turned more sarcastic. "It is a pity that the entire world will crumble at the hands of Queen Metallia." He really didn't like the idea of destroying a world that contained things he loved, but that was how it was going to be. He thought it was too late to turn back after he made it as far as he did. Besides, there was a lot to offer, wasn't there?

"Yeah. I almost feel sorry for them," said the red head.

Nephrite gave an evil chuckle, and left the planetarium to change. The amount of time he wore the tux for was all he could take.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

A week went by, and more people disappeared when they took a bus home from getting charms from the Hikawa Shrine. At this point, Rei was convinced that there was foul play involved, especially since suspicious activity had been taking place the minute J. Dite was hired. She had a hunch that he was behind these turn of events. To prove it, she would investigate the situation and expose him for the fraud he truly was.

Luna, too, had noticed. It sounded _very _suspicious to her, since buses filled with passengers don't just disappear in thin air. One day after school, she talked to Usagi and Ami about it.

"I think we'd better check things out. I believe that the Dark Kingdom has a hand in this," said Luna.

"You're probably right about that.," said Ami. "I've also noticed that every time the girls leave the temple, they are in a trance."

Luna didn't like the sound of that. It made her suspicions stronger. But as usual, Usagi wasn't buying what was said. She was a bit sick of being talked out of what she wanted to do because of the fear of being ensnared in a trap. She wanted one of the amulets and she was going to get one.

"I think you're both wrong!" the blonde spoke up defiantly. The black feline and the blue haired girl looked up at the obstinate girl, surprised by her sudden defensive tone.

"Is that so? What makes you so sure that we're wrong?" Ami asked. She knew that her voice had a slight edge to it, but she couldn't help it. She was feeling a little bit cross with her friend. That was unusual for her, since she was generally very patient. But the stress of this entire incident was beginning to take a toll on her usually even temper.

"I am sure of it!" Usagi insisted, ignoring Ami's tone of voice. "That guy was nice to me when Rei attacked me. I know that those amulets are for real! If I get one of them, my wishes will come true."

Luna groaned. There the heroine was again, worrying about trivial things instead of what was important. Getting her to stop would be like convincing a child to give up his or her favorite food. "Can't you take anything seriously for once?"

And the ice senshi added, " Besides, the people who have them tend to be in a daze. Please don't be insulted when I tell you this, but its influence wouldn't help you at all."

Usagi shrugged it off, and started to daydream. Pink hearts popped out of her eyes and she started drooling. Ami and Luna could only glance at each other as if to say, " Oh, good grief."

The black feline sighed; she could tell that it would be a long afternoon. "All right, Usagi, that's enough. Time to investigate this matter."

The blonde stopped drooling. " Okay, okay."

"So," said the blue haired teenager, still reeling a bit from her friend's spazzy behavior. "What do we do first?"

"First things first, we should ask Rei if she knows anything about it. I'll let YOU take care of that, Usagi," said Luna.

"Why me?" asked Usagi. She wasn't thrilled with the thought of doing more work to begin with, but she especially didn't like the idea of facing the supposedly psychic girl. Although she had forgiven her for the accidental assault, she couldn't bring herself to face her just yet. After all, the girl didn't seem overly approachable.

"Because you're the leader, that's why," replied Luna, rolling her eyes. She was tired of Usagi always questioning her. She could be so immature most times.

"All right already! I get the point," said Usagi. She was annoyed by the cat being so right and so serious all the time, not to mention her lectures. But she would do it if it would get the guardian off her back.

"Ami, you go with her," instructed the cat. She was sure that the flaky girl would need some assistance.

"Yes, Luna," replied Ami, obediently. She and Usagi went to the Hikawa Shrine together. Luna followed them, just in case they would need her. Also, she was going to see if this girl was indeed the third sailor warrior.

Meanwhile, Nephrite was on another shopping spree at the music store. He allowed his youma to accompany him this time, but not before putting the strongest protection spell

on his mansion that he could manage. With the three servants with him, he was sure that an unwelcome person would try to enter the mansion. But a promise was a promise, and after all they did for him, it was the least he could do, though he only had a rough idea of what it meant.

"Sir? Look what I've found," said Ruby, grabbing a CD off the shelf and handing it to Nephrite. The star king took the CD. It was a world music artist that sounded a bit New Age..very tranquil and relaxing, just the way he liked the music to be.

The auburn haired shitennou's eyebrows arched a bit. It was exactly what he had been looking for. The woman was such a genius when it came to stuff like this.

"How did you know I've been looking for this?"

"Oh come on. I know you love soothing music."

Nephrite raised his eyebrows again. "Is that so? I guess you're right."

Naru was nearby, looking for the newest album from her favorite jazz musician. She froze when she saw Nephrite. The things she noticed most were his hair, and his face. His hair was so long, luxurious and silky. Simply put, there were not enough words to describe his beauty.

'_He must be that millionaire, Masato Sanjouin. Oh my, he's the most beautiful man in the world!'_thought Naru. She wanted to go up to him and run her fingers through his long chestnut locks, but decided that it wouldn't be right. After all, she hadn't spent any time getting to know him. She wasn't *that* bold where she would do that to someone she never at least talked to. The frizzy haired teen quickly pulled herself together and continued to look for the album.

A very frazzled Rei was standing on the shrine steps, sweeping. Another angry parent had come and yelled at her for her daughter disappearing from the temple. She was getting so fed up with the accusations. If _just one more person_ accused her about this, she would-

"Hey there!" A familiar looking blonde girl with pigtails walked up to her. This time, she had brought a girl with short blue hair with her, and a mysterious looking black cat with a crescent moon on her forehead.

"What brings you two here?" Rei asked the girls. They could see that she wasn't in a welcoming mood. Now the blonde _really _didn't want to be there. _'Luna, how could you do this to me? ' _She didn't want to feel the girl's wrath.

"Do you know anything about the buses disappearing?" asked Usagi.

Rei threw up her hands in frustration. It seemed like that was the only question people had for her that day, and she was already in a bad mood. She didn't care that the girl was asking her more nicely than the parents were. And she didn't care that there was someone there with her.

"Why is it that everyone thinks I know about it?" she asked, sounding annoyed.

Usagi had a feeling that Rei would be somewhat defensive about this. So it didn't surprise her. But she was not giving up, for she was on a mission here. "Well, it's been happening at this temple with the charm selling and all."

"That's J. Dite's idea," said Rei. "And like I said, I am not the bus driver here."

"Oh." The goofy blonde felt like a complete fool then.

Ami could tell that Rei was becoming impatient and didn't want the issue to be pushed any further. She whispered to her friend that they had better go. Usagi nodded.

"Oh. Well, we didn't mean to disturb you. Good day," said Ami. She and Usagi left.

'_Good riddance,'_thought Rei. What little of the good mood she had left had turned sour. She also decided that this had to stop.

The whole time Luna was there, she sensed a strong aura around the jet-black haired girl. She discreetly made a transforming pen appear, and left with the two girls. Rei finally calmed down a bit, and noticed the unusual device.

'_Wow. This pen is so beautiful,'_she thought, picking it up. The priestess to be wasn't sure what it was for, but she put it in her pocket.

The next day, more buses disappeared. Rei finally had enough. And she was _not _going to tolerate one more accusation. She went to do a fire reading.

"Oh sacred flame, please tell me who is responsible for all this," the spiritual girl said to the flame. The flames showed an image of a man with short blonde hair dressed in one of the Shinto robes. He had a very cold look in his sapphire eyes, and a wicked smile on his face. It was the new temple worker. Her suspicions were confirmed.

'_Just as I suspected,'_thought Rei. She went looking for this temple worker. She was going to see that he paid very dearly for this. He tricked her grandfather and caused harm to innocent people, and they were things she had no mercy for. When she finally found him,she gave him a piece of her mind. Of course, he pretended that he didn't know what she was talking about, but she wasn't buying it. He couldn't fool her, not after the proof she got.

"Admit that you're guilty!" she ordered.

Jadeite gave an evil smirk. This girl was right on. He was indeed guilty. And it was pathetic of the humans to fall for it.

"Smart of you to figure it out. You're not as brainless as I thought. However, there is nothing you can do about it!" sneered Jadeite. He created a black hole, swept Rei into the air with telekinesis, and she disappeared into another dimension.

"AHHHH!" screamed Rei. She was so surprised. She never knew that this guy was capable of such power. He was more monstrous than she thought.

The sinister shitennou gave an evil laugh.

'_Foolish girl,'_he thought. So far, everything was going the way he wanted them to. He went to congratulate his minion.

Usagi and Luna were at the bus stop, at the scene where all the temple visitors had been disappearing every time they caught a ride from the sacred place. They were going to see where exactly those buses went whenever they disappeared, this way they would be able to confirm if the Dark Kingdom was behind the wrongdoings for sure. Ami was at cram school, so she wasn't able to investigate with them.

"We must get to the bottom of this,Usagi. It's time for plan B," said Luna.

"What exactly is Plan B?" asked the senshi of the moon. She shuddered, hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was, though she had a bad feeling about it. After all, the feline guardian was always making her do things that she hated doing. Unfortunately, it was just the answer she was afraid of hearing.

"We go on the bus when it comes. It's the only way to rescue those who disappeared," said Luna slowly, to make sure the ditzy teen understood the scheme and was in agreement with it. She knew how lazy and cowardly the girl could be, and those were not options where the captured people were concerned. She was going to do it whether she liked it or not, even if she had to get physical with her to make her do it.

"But I don't wanna!" whined Usagi. Disappearing buses were a little **too**unnerving for her taste. Who knew what would happen to her in that other dimension?

"You have no choice. Those people need you," said Luna in an unwavering tone. She would not be tolerating any cowardice from her.

Usagi hated to admit it, but Luna was right. But it would still take every ounce of bravery she had to do it. She hoped that she wouldn't regret it. She got an idea.

"Can I at least disguise myself?"

"I suppose you can," replied the black cat. She just wanted the blonde young girl to get going.

"All right!" said Usagi, taking out her Luna pen. "Disguise Power! Turn me into a flight attendant!" The school uniform turned into a very business-like navy blue two piece suit, and on her head was a hat to match.

Luna rolled her eyes at this. The girl could be such a bonehead.

"You're not going on an airplane, silly," she pointed out.

"I know I'm not," said Usagi, shrugging her shoulders. "But what does it matter? At least I won't be recognized."

Just then, one of the buses arrived. "Okay Usagi, the bus is here. It's now or never," said Luna.

"Here goes nothing." The blonde gathered her courage, and walked up to the bus. She felt a little scared, but wanted to show that she wasn't such a wimp. The doors opened, and she and Luna got on. Several other people showed up, and got on as well. The bus disappeared through a warp hole. It jerked and Usagi and the black cat fell and slid down the aisle. The bleach blonde girl gave a high pitched wail at the impact. Jadeite chuckled as he saw the buses disappear.

'_Ridiculous humans, your energy belongs to ME!'_he thought. He stretched out his arm and proceeded to drain energy from the people that wore the amulets. "What's going on? I feel so sick." The people collapsed, and were unconscious. Usagi was horrified when she saw this. And the darkness and sinister appearance of the atmosphere didn't help a bit. In fact, it made her even more terrified. Definitely not part of her contract.

"This is creeping me out," she wailed. "I wished I was at home doing my homework." That's right, doing homework was more preferable than _this_nightmare. She started bawling.

Luna groaned...the flaky girl picked the wrong moment to go into one of her crying fits. "Get a grip and transform!" she said.

"Okay, just give me a minute." She let out one last cry and then decided that she was ready. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

Nephrite was on his throne, drinking sparkling apple juice and watching the battle using Yukari's crystal globe. Yukari sat next to him, and watched as well. She had decided to give her twin and Ruby some time alone.

'_I just knew that it was only a matter of time that that nosy Sailor Moon would show up,' _he thought, taking a sip of juice. He began to watch the battle. It started out a little bit boring, with Sailor Moon saying one of her infamous speeches. He knew that she was known to be all talk, so he was slightly astonished to see her take off her tiara as soon as she did. It looked like she was becoming more of a formidable opponent, she was learning. The dark general was really amused when the crows started attacking Kigaan. The brunette youma was way ahead of him. She was almost on the floor in her laughter. Then she got serious and continued to watch. The ugly monster managed to fight the crows off, and stopped Sailor Moon's tiara attack. Nephrite could see that his opinion of her skills was elevated too soon.

'_How pathetic. It seems that Sailor Moon is losing her touch.' _Yukari looked absolutely disgusted. Watching the battle was like watching grass grow. Especially when the tiara fell and Kigaan proceeded to attack a girl with long black hair. A black cat went to the girl, said something to her, and this girl took out an unusual pen and used it to transform.

'_Oh, so this girl is a senshi, too, eh? Well, interesting. Looks like things are starting to heat up.' _Yukari hoped that this girl would pull it off. She watched as the new senshi attacked with a fireball. This senshi was impressive, which was more than she could say for Moon at times. The fireball was enough to defeat Kigaan.

_'Well, Moon, it seems that you've got lucky,' _thought the star shitennou. Of course, Jadeite was _very _displeased about this. Now there was yet _another _senshi to deal with..triple trouble.

'_Just great. I now have three nosy senshi to worry about. Well, no matter. I will get rid of_ _them, once and for all.' _

The blonde general shook his fist and teleported away.

Of course, Nephrite and his youma found this all very amusing. They were so sure that the amateur general's failure was inevitable now that there was another senshi to deal with..after all, he couldn't deal with just one senshi. Yukari went to tell the young women about this. She didn't expect Beryl to spare him this time. It would be foolish if she did that.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Ami, Luna, and Usagi were in Rei's room at the Hikawa shrine. The newly awakened senshi had been kind enough to allow them to use it for a meeting (with her grandfather's permission, of course.) The three girls were thinking about how they should spend the day. Luna smiled as she watched the girls. She loved seeing them sit together, looking peaceful. She hoped that they would be a tight circle of friends. It would be important since they were working together. Usagi seemed to be ignoring Luna, though. She noticed a Sailor V manga next to Rei. It was one that she had been dying to read for a long time. So the quick tempered girl liked manga. That was interesting. The two girls had something in common. Maybe they could put aside their differences and become friends. The blonde wondered if the girl would be nice enough to lend the book to her. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Wow, Sailor V Goes to Hollywood! Is it okay if I borrowed this? Please?"

The ebony haired girl was exasperated. She was just becoming acquainted with her and already she found her a bit grating. She was like a little kid. She snatched the book out of her hand. "I didn't get to read it yet! Wait until I am finished. "

Usagi couldn't believe Rei's nerve. She didn't have to be so snippy and rude about it. She tried to take the manga back from Rei. Soon, a full fledged argument over the comic book ensued. They spent a full five minutes bickering.

"You're so selfish! You never want to share _anything!_ You really need to learn some hospitality!"

"You need to learn to be patient and stop being so spoiled!" the fire senshi's voice shot back. They continued to argue until the feline guardian couldn't take it anymore and she yelled at them to break it up.

"Usagi, be mature for once and let Rei read the book first."

"But I don't want to!"

Rei gave an exasperated sigh. "It's always about what you want, isn't it, Usagi?"

The blonde blew a raspberry at her. "I learned that from you."

The raven haired girl was so tickled by the remark that she decided to try and be funny. "Please. Go get the violins."

"Humph! Maybe I will!" The ditzy teen sat there and sulked. She really wanted nothing to do with Rei at that point. She couldn't believe she thought she could be friends with her..she seemed so mean-spirited, so prickly.

Ami, who had been wisely staying out of the argument, was looking at a newspaper. She noticed an advertisement for a brand new theme park. It looked like a lot of fun. And she had to admit, it would be nice to catch some fresh air and take a break from her studies.

"Hey girls, let's go to this new amusement park," she suggested.

Everyone, including Luna looked at the blue haired girl, surprised. She actually wanted to do something other than studying?

"Really? You want to go to a theme park?" the blonde senshi asked incredulously.

"Sure. I am ahead in my studies, and we could all use a break for now," Ami said casually.

Rei had her doubts about this. She heard about people disappearing at that park. But it would give her and the other girls an opportunity to investigate before coming to that conclusion.

"Okay, let's go!" Ami and her two good friends left the house with Luna behind them. She reminded them to stay on guard just in case something fishy happened.

"Oh, Luna, don't be such a bore," groaned Usagi. She didn't like when the feline mentioned senshi business on a fun activity.

Beryl was in her throne room, staring at the image of the senshi. She had hoped that the universe would be plunged into everlasting darkness _before _these little girls were awakened. Every time Jadeite promised that he would succeed, he failed and the existing senshi would be joined by another. If he couldn't deal with destroying just Sailor Moon, there was no way he would succeed when he had two more senshi to contend with. To say the least, the witch queen was not too pleased with him. In fact, his incompetence had finally made her patience with the general thin. She summoned him before her. He appeared, and bowed.

"Yes, your majesty?"

"Excellent work, Jadeite. You now have three nosy senshi to deal with. It seems that this task is more than you can handle. Perhaps I should find someone more competent to replace you," said Queen Beryl.

Jadeite's eyes glazed over. Sarcasm. He hated when she used that. He knew that his queen only acted sarcastic when she was at the end of her rope. And he knew that she was thinking of replacing him with Nephrite or Kunzite..most likely Nephrite, since Zoisite was around the same level as he was, if not lower, and the sakura shitennou's training was not complete yet. Well, there was no way he would allow either of the higher ranked shitennou to make a fool out of him and literally remind him that he was inferior to them. The blonde wanted to show how good he could be despite his rank. He was starting to sweat nervously. He fought the sweat drops that were threatening to fall. Luckily, Beryl didn't see them.

"Please, Queen Beryl. Give me one more chance. I have a scheme that'll eliminate those annoying germs once and for all," said Jadeite.

The slightly enraged queen gave a sigh, but tried not to look too disgusted. Jadeite was always promising her that he would defeat the enemy but wasn't able to stay true to them. Still, she was interested in seeing how he could oust three enemies.

"Very well. I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself. However, if you do not dispose of those Sailor Brats, your punishment will be severe. Is that understood?"

"Yes, your majesty," replied Jadeite, bowing respectfully. With that, he teleported away, going to finish going over the plans with his youma, Muurido. It was time for her to come into the picture.

"So I am the security and you will be the host that will welcome the silly humans in the figment of their imagination. Got it?"

A very adorable collapsible doll-like youma with pink hair and blue lips emerged. "Yes, Master." She disguised herself as a normal human, and her master disguised himself as a police officer, and both of them teleported to their base of operation—the "amusement park".

Over at Jadeite's post, he was greeted by a mob of angry people. He sighed in disgust, wondering what the humans wanted this time.

"This is an outrage! Why is it that so many people are disappearing from this place? I demand an explanation!"

It was so chaotic that it came out as a cacophony..but Jadeite was able to make out what they were saying. He thought they were smart for figuring it out, yet wanted them out of his sight. He had no time for the likes of them. But that would blow his cover, so he didn't say so.

"If that were the case, we would not have this theme park opened. Now please leave!" With a strong force, he shoved them away. They slide down the aisle, some of them were tangled around each other. The blonde man gave an evil smirk. _'I will succeed this time.' _

*******

Nephrite saw the meeting through Yukari's crystal. Jadeite's meeting with Beryl made him very happy, for he knew that it wouldn't be long before he became Queen Beryl's new commander. He just KNEW that Jadeite wouldn't succeed in his "so called" fool proof scheme. After all, the lower ranked shitennou used the same pattern for gathering energy. If he had learned a lesson he would have learnt from the first failure. He summoned his three youma. They appeared instantaneously.

"Yes, Master Nephrite?"

Nephrite told them about Jadeite's meeting with Beryl. They listened attentively, and were pleased to hear that they didn't have too long to wait. They had an easier time being patient than they thought they would. Still, they thought it was about time. The women tried not to show how overjoyed they really were. Instead, they listened carefully enough to hear what he said next.

"I think it's an appropriate time to plan our strategy," he said.

The girls were happy to hear that. Finally they would get a chance to fully prove their efficiency, their abilities they were proficient in when it came to battling. They didn't harness their powers as much, as they had grown more than enough to defeat the enemy.

"Yes. It's only a matter of time before Beryl disposes of that amateur for good," said Ruby. Unlike the other two, she couldn't help but be just a little arrogant about it.

The star shitennou didn't seem to mind the slight haughtiness, though. In fact, he nodded in agreement.

"What strategy do you have in mind, sir?" asked Yukari.

"The power of the stars," answered the auburn haired king.

"Great idea," said Miki. She wasn't surprised, as it was his greatest strength. Why not put it to use?

Nephrite smiled. "The human race is controlled by the movement of the stars throughout the heavens. Each person lives according to unique and special rhythm that is theirs alone. Everyone has that moment in their lives where their energy rises to its very highest point. The stars have the ability to point out each individual. That is how I intend to gather energy." 

The pigtailed youma was impressed, and amazed by this plan. Using the power of the stars would enable him to monitor the progress on the increase of the individual's energy. Very God-like, very astrological. Not only that, it would accomplish getting energy from just one person. There was no need for a mass of people.

"That's a superb plan, Master Nephrite. You're a genius," she said.

Nephrite chortled a bit at the comment. These women sure had high opinions of him. Secretly, though, he loved the praises, though he didn't openly show it.

"That's what you think, but I'm afraid I beg to differ," said a very familiar sounding tenor voice.

Miki looked up sharply, and her stomach churned. That voice was all too familiar, and it was one she, quite frankly, found sickening. Same for the two other henchmen. She could have chosen that moment to spew chunks, but she decided to exercise some self control, though it would take every ounce of will power she had to do so. Zoisite appeared in a flurry of cherry blossoms.

"Not you again," said Nephrite, sounding displeased. Always trespassing on his property in spite of his protection spells. The effeminate general- in- training really needed to learn some manners.

The tawny haired young man looked at his rival and the youma and frowned. He thought it was sickening the way they had such great admiration for him, it was like they had silly crushes on him. He would never ever acknowledge that he felt the same about his teacher Kunzite; he would just deny that it was the same thing if one pointed it out.

"You're only wasting your time. You and I both know that I will be the one who will be Queen Beryl's new commander," he said, smirking at Nephrite.

'_Loser,'_ thought Miki, seething. She was fighting the urge to electrocute Zoisite to a crisp. That needling remark was all it took for her to see red. Nephrite noticed her anger.

"Easy, Miki. The annoying fool isn't worth wasting your energy on," he told his minion.

She knew he was right, but was still feeling extremely tense. "Yes, Master."

Zoisite gave a high pitched chuckle. He found his adversary's tenacity appalling..something he considered a downfall. "You know, Nephrite, if you admit that I'm right, you'll make things a lot easier for yourself," said Zoisite.

Nephrite rolled his eyes. "Don't be an idiot. You're forgetting that you're only a general in training. If you honestly believe that Beryl would choose you over me,you're a fool," retorted the older general. 

The girls gave the annoying weasel the stare of death, to show that they agreed. Zoisite was indignant that Nephrite once again made him feel like a fool, so unable to respond. Discreetly seething, Zoisite teleported away. One day, he vowed, he would not lose to the slightly pretentious general and he would get what he wanted.

'_Good riddance,'_ thought Ruby. She wasn't sure how much she could take of him..her tolerance level wasn't the highest.

Nephrite told his youma more about his strategy, about how he was going to use his human disguise, Masato Sanjouin, to trick his victims. He spent so much time among the earthlings that he was familiar with most of their culture..their code of ethics and the like. And what especially pleased him was that it didn't seem very different from what little he could recall doing when he was a human..which was not very much he could remember.

"Those humans are suckers for compliments and flattery. This time, it'll be their downfall," he said, giving an evil chuckle.

Miki didn't have as quite a strong mastery of the human culture as her master did, but she did know more than enough to carry out his orders efficiently. She would learn more as she went along.

"I understand. Knowing how much those humans love to be flattered, they would be more than willing to help your plans. Very clever."

"Exactly right, Miki."

"Don't forget that we're here to help you in any way we can," Yukari reminded him.

"Of course," replied Nephrite, looking pleased. They were always helping him, so he wasn't surprised that they offered to help once he was in control.

*******

The battle between the dream dolly and the senshi was underway. There was a brief moment where Mars and Moon were exchanging words. Mercury had to scold them for their petty bickering. She told them that the battle wasn't the time for that, that they must work together to defeat the monster. They begrudgingly admitted that she was right.

Muurido looked amused. While they were talking, she took it as a distraction. She put her hands around her weapon—an apple that vacuumed energy from her opponents, preparing to drain the senshi's energy. Before she could, a rose struck the apple. Caught off guard, she dropped the apple.

She saw the shadow of a man in a cape, top hat and tuxedo. She glared at him. Sailor Moon, on the other hand, was glad to see him, like she always was.

"Don't get distracted, Sailor Moon, now is our chance. We work together!" said Mercury, eying her flaky friend's starry-eyed expression.

"Right! Moon Tiara..."

"Fire ..."

"Shabon..."

"Action!"

"Soul!"

"Spray!"

The bubbles and fireball surrounded the discus transformed tiara and hurtled towards the evil dolly. She couldn't move out of the way in time. She screamed as it hit her. Within seconds, she was moon dust. The young warriors cheered! They were proud of themselves for their teamwork. Luna watched, and hoped that they would be able to keep it up. All the people who had disappeared, returned, and they got their energy back. The swirl of energy disappeared from Jadeite's hand, and he was furious!

'_Grrrr! I DESPISE those meddling senshi! Because of THEM, I will feel of Queen Beryl's_ _wrath,'_ he thought, teleporting away. Beryl had made it crystal clear that she wouldn't be accepting any more failure, and she was the type that meant what she said, and said what she meant. He could only imagine what he would be in for.

Nephrite had went back to watching the blonde man's plan once again, using Yukari's crystal globe. He found these turn of events amusing.

'_It's official. Jadeite won't last much longer. As the humans say, it's three strikes and you'r_e _out,'_ he thought. He knew his queen all too well. He went to tell his minions about this.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Jadeite was in his quarters, thinking about how he could dig himself out of the deep trouble he knew he would be in with Beryl. He wasn't sure what he could do now. He tried everything he could think of. Although he succeeded in finding the source of human energy, the schemes were always ruined by those bratty little girls. Even using the mortals' weak spot to his advantage wasn't enough. Repeatedly, he saw images of Sailor Moon throwing her tiara at his best minions every time. The more he thought about it, the more outraged he felt. He shook his fist and growled. His hatred for the enemy grew.

"Your meddling will be the end of you," he muttered under his breath. Just then, he heard laughter. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. The surly blonde general turned around sharply. He was in no mood for interruptions, he was trying to think. A woman with long blue hair and a very short sleeveless blue dress appeared. Thetis. Beryl's best henchman. He wasn't too pleased to see her. Did Beryl even know she was there?

"Jadeite, you're far too strong to let that sailor brat bother you so," said the woman.

"What do you want, Thetis?" asked Jadeite rudely. He never liked the way she hounded him and nagged him with her affections. He had no time for the likes of her.

"You cannot go on like this, Jadeite. You really need some help," said Thetis. She was sure that he would refuse but she would be tenacious and not leave.

"Get lost, Thetis! I don't need any help," said the blonde shitennou stubbornly. Actually, he had no qualms about working with youma as he did it all the time until that moment. He just wanted nothing to do with the water controlling youma. She was his queen's henchman, not his. If he failed, and lost her, he would never hear the end of it. There was no way he was going to get in deeper trouble than he was.

The blue-haired youma looked very hurt. She loved him very much and he always gave her the cold shoulder. What had she done for him to give her such hatred? "You are not fooling anyone. You shouldn't be so prideful. It would be an honor to work with someone like you. I'm sure that Queen Beryl would want me to help you."

Jadeite was beginning to become even more annoyed than he was with her. She was so dense. "You will only hold me back. Now, for the last time, go away!"

Thetis was only slightly daunted by the blonde's exasperation. She decided to try one last thing that would spark something inside him. Surely he wouldn't turn this offer down.

"You're wrong. I have become stronger than ever. And I have the perfect plan to gather energy," she told him with shifty eyes.

Jadeite thought that was interesting. He thought she should have just said that to begin with instead of just beating around the bush.

"And what might that be?" he asked.

Thetis gave an evil chuckle. It seemed like she got the shitennou to relent after all.

"We invite human couples on a love cruise, and zap all of their energy."

_'Hmm,' _thought the blonde general. The plan sounded promising. In fact, it was the best love scheme he had ever heard of. Perhaps working with the woman wouldn't be such a terrible idea after all.

"Excellent plan. Let's get to work. " He and Thetis talked over the scheme some more, and then worked out which part of the plan they would be in charge of.

* * *

Yukari and the two girls saw the meeting, and were waiting for their master to return from the grocery store so that they could tell him all about it. Their thoughts on the scheme? It was mediocre. It did have potential as it was involving one of _the _greatest weaknesses of the humans, and love energy would be valuable to their Leader. But it still had that tragic flaw, using hundreds of people to get the energy from. As far as they were concerned, sufficient love energy could be gathered from just one person if planned properly. Still, the women couldn't help but acknowledge that Thetis was clever. They could see why she was considered Beryl's highest ranked youma. That was saying a lot where her youma were concerned. Just then, Nephrite appeared in the planetarium.

"Master Nephrite, you've returned," said Ruby. It was like her to give a greeting like that.

Yukari cut in before the star general could respond to that. "Well, Jadeite's scheme is in progress now," she notified him.

"Oh? What does he have planned this time?" The high ranked shitennou always had an interest in hearing about what sub par schemes the small-fry general had.

The brunette told him of how he decided to team up with Beryl's best youma and would be holding a contest where all soul mates could enter, where the first place prize would be a love cruise.

"To use Beryl's youma without permission? It appears that Jadeite is more of a fool than I thought," said Yukari. "He must _want_ to feel of Beryl's wrath. After all, there is no way he can succeed."

Her twin was more cynical about the matter.

"I think this is more desperation on his part. After all, desperate times call for desperate measures,as the humans say, and it can be a powerful motivation. That moron Jadeite could never have come up with such a scheme on his own, so he decided to allow someone with more of a brain than he does, although it is obvious that he is annoyed to no end with her."

"He lacks the intelligence to think of the scheme on his own" agreed Ruby, tossing her ruby red hair over her shoulders. She heard that the youma was infatuated with the blonde general. She couldn't help but wonder what she saw in him.

The chestnut haired young man nodded as he listened to his minions state their two cents. He agreed with them.

"Thetis is an intelligent youma to discover how powerful those human emotions can be. If he does succeed, which I doubt, it would be interesting to see." It was not what he wanted, though. He thought it was time for Beryl to wise up and discard of the useless idiot.

"Yes. However, it takes inconspicuous plans to get rid of those girly girls," said Miki. She was literally waiting for Jadeite to fail miserably.

"Exactly," said Nephrite. And he wanted very much to prove it.

* * *

Meanwhile at school, Naru and Usagi were reading about the contest they heard about. School had actually been dismissed a few minutes earlier and they were staying back. Both of them wanted to go on the cruise so badly, but was not sure how to get their hands on the tickets. Usagi would really have liked to invite Motoki to come with her if she got one. But he most likely had to work, so there went that idea. If she went, she would be dateless, because she was _not _desperate where she would ask Mamoru, her thorn in the side. She would rather eat worms first.

Just then, Umino walked over to the pair of best friends. "Hey girls, whatcha looking at?" Before they could answer him, he picked up the newspaper they were reading. He perused it and nodded. "Ah, the cruise. I won tickets for this in an Internet contest. The tickets so happened to be the first place prize. "

A tinge of jealousy hit the girls. Why was it that the nerd always got the best things? But they put on their best pokerfaces. They didn't want him to know that they were jealous of him. Umino studied the girls, the ditzy blonde the most. He had a feeling that she would really want to go. He knew how much she loved things like that. He decided to surprise her. Surely she would be nice to him this once. He reached into his pocket and held it out to Usagi. Her eyes widened and she stared at the geek warily.

"Take it. My parents won't let me go because of my schoolwork, not to mention that I get seasick. I will keep the other ticket as a souvenir."

Usually, the blonde girl would have told him something like "Stop fooling around" but she could see in his eyes that he wasn't. The look in his eyes looked very solemn, very genuine. And she did want to go after all. There was no way she was going to blow this chance. So, she took it away from him, thanked him and put it in her bag. She made sure the bag was zipped properly. She couldn't risk losing it.

"I owe you one," she said.

"It was nothing," the brown-haired boy replied. "I am glad that I could be of service to you just this once."

"Well, you were." Usagi looked at her watch. She didn't realize that she was there that long. "Gotta go! Bye, you two!" She ran out of the classroom as if she were being chased. Naru watched her go. She wondered what was going on with her, as she never saw her run at that speed. And she was surprised at Umino for being nice to her without being his irritating self. She was beginning to have more respect for him as a person..but he still wasn't her ideal soul mate. No way.

Usagi was on her way to her favorite cafe' for a quick snack before she went on the cruise..whenever it would be.. She noticed a crowd of people standing in line. She wondered what the commotion was about. She went closer to them to see what they were talking about. It seemed like they were participating in a contest. She saw a large bulletin board on the wall advertising something. Curiously, she took a look what it said. "ENTER CONTEST TO WIN TICKETS FOR THE ROMANTIC CRUISE." The blonde knew that it wouldn't apply to her, as she already got a ticket from someone she didn't treat very nicely. Grinning, she decided to leave and go to Cafe' Amigo. She passed Rei on the way.

"Usagi, what are you smiling about?" was her greeting. The girl was rarely serious, and it really irritated her.

Usagi was so happy, she didn't want to risk Rei spoiling her mood. So far the priestess had been so hard to get along with, and she was afraid that she would be criticized. "Let's just say that something exciting has happened for once. Don't ask, because I am not telling what it is."

Rei gave her a look. "Then stop goofing around and be serious for once." She read the sign that was on the wall. _'Hmm, interesting.' _ She decided to give the contest a shot and press her luck. She knew just how to do so, too. She walked up to the man in charge of this contest and asked if she could give it a shot.

"Go right ahead!" said the man. Rei walked up to the machine. She chanted a psychic spell, and spun the wheel. Usagi, who was a little displeased about being scolded, couldn't believe her eyes. Rei was cheating!

A golden ball came out of the machine. It was the one that was needed for the contestant to win.

"That's the one! You're the winner! The contest is officially over!" the man announced.

The raven haired girl couldn't believe it. She was so exhilarated that she could die happy if she were to die that moment. She started jumping up and down like a little kid and cheered. She didn't realize that she was doing the same thing she always chastised the ditzy blonde for doing.

Usagi, however, was not pleased about this. She couldn't believe that the host of the contest did not see Rei cheating. And she was such a hypocrite for lecturing her when she acted kid-like when she was doing the same thing at the moment. She thought about notifying the man about Rei's foul play, but decided not to. Instead, she would call her on it later, when they were on better terms..whenever **that **would happen. The blonde decided not to get a snack after all, and to cool down at Sankaku Park. She saw Luna sitting on the bench. She sat on the bench and stretched her legs lazily. The black cat looked up. "Usagi. It's about time."

"Hi to you, too, Luna," replied the blonde.

Her guardian was shocked at the crabby tone. The girl was usually cheerful..too cheerful most of the time. She wondered what was up.

"What's wrong with you? Why the long face?"

The blonde didn't waste time at all. Letting all her emotions always made her feel better. She told Luna the whole story.

Luna could only groan."Oh, Usagi." She hoped that the two girls would be able to work out their differences and soon. If they were going to be on the same team, there couldn't afford to be any friction. Just then, Ami came to the park. She eyed her blonde friend grumpy look and the feline's frown. "Luna, what's up?" she asked, concerned.

"Apparently there's another feud between Usagi and Rei."

The senshi of ice sighed. She knew the feeling. Breaking up fights between those two was so tiresome. And she found the bickering childish. "I'll talk to her about this." She went to find the raven haired girl. Usagi was feeling better, so she decided to the cafe' after all. Luna followed her to see what she would do. She had a feeling that the flaky teen wanted to spy on Ami and Rei.

The blue haired girl was on her way to the shrine when she saw the fire senshi running towards her, jet-black hair flying behind her. "Ami! Ami! It's so good to see you!"

Ami could tell that Rei was excited about something. She wondered what it could be.

"Hey there, Rei. What's up?"

"I have some great news!"

"Oh, what is it!"

"Let's go to the cafe' downtown, okay? I'll tell you over milkshakes! Let's go!" She grabbed the blue haired girl by the hand and pulled her towards the cafe' that was just a couple of blocks away. Ami followed, mystified. She had never seen Rei act like this before. Whatever the news was must be very exciting.

Once seated at the little eatery with their milkshakes, Rei took out the cruise tickets she had won and showed them to Ami.

Ami looked at them. Now she knew why the girl was so excited. Winning a ticket for a cruise _was_ thrilling, and it did sound lovely. "Congratulations." Her tone and face expression then became serious. She remembered what she was supposed to talk to Rei about.

Rei had thoughts about asking Mamoru to go along, as she had developed a crush on him. Both of them had one thing in common..they felt that Usagi's hairstyle was ridiculous. But she didn't know where she would find him. _'Hmmm, maybe I can ask Ami.' _ One thing was for certain—she was _not _going to ask Usagi. The girl would only drive her up a wall with her incessant silliness and her crybaby games.

"Say, Ami? Would you like to go along with me?"

The cerulean haired girl was surprised that the black haired girl was asking her. She thought it was nice, but why would she ask her over Usagi?

"I don't know...why aren't you inviting Usagi? What is it that you have against her?"

The ebony-haired girl was taken aback . She wasn't expecting Ami to ask her that. And she was shocked by how serious she looked. She hoped that Ami wasn't going to decline the invite because of that.

"It's nothing against her. It's just that I don't know her well. All she has shown me is a side that I am not very patient with. It's a problem I have had for years. And she needs to pay more attention to important things. You, on the other hand, could use a break. You're always working."

"Hmmm. Perhaps you're right," said Ami, relenting. She could live with Rei's response to her question. It was something that could be resolved all in good time.

"Does this mean that you'll come, then?" asked Rei.

Ami nodded.

"Great! We can tell Usagi all about it when we get back," said Rei.

Little did they know, Usagi was behind the bushes outside the cafe', listening to their conversation. She could barely hear what they were saying, but she didn't really care. All she could think of was that the two girls would be shocked if they knew.

_'Hmmm. I wonder what's on Usagi's mind,' thought Luna. _She thought the blonde girl looked awfully smug. _  
_

* * *

Soon, the captain made an announcement that it was time to board the ship. Usagi waited until every couple boarded the ship, then she took out her ticket and went to the entrance. She didn't want anyone to see her. Luna followed her. And she wondered where the blonde got the ticket from. Surely she wasn't so desperate that she would go as far as stealing the ticket. Someone who was unable to go must have given it to her.

The bleach blonde senshi had an idea of how she could make people oblivious to her, since she didn't have a date. She imagined that everyone would look at her like they didn't want her there. She decided to disguise herself. She took out the Luna Pen.

Luna gasped. She hoped that Usagi wasn't doing what she thought she was. She gave her that pen for strictly Sailor business, not for trivial matters.

"What are you doing, Usagi?" she asked.

"Disguising myself. I don't want people to be staring at me," the dubious girl explained.

"I thought I told you that the Luna pen is only for Sailor business," the ebony cat gently scolded her.

"But this is Sailor business. Suppose a youma attacks on the ship?" said Usagi. "And I can observe while I am in the disguise."

"I suppose you do have a point," said Luna. She just hoped that the teen wouldn't do it _too _often.

"Then it's settled," said Usagi. "Disguise Power! Turn me into a photographer!"

Usagi's hair became short, and her uniform changed into a photographer outfit. Usagi put Luna in her handbag, ignoring her protests and struggling. She walked onto the ship, and handed the conductor the ticket. "Thank you, ma'am," he said, motioning to her where to go. She thanked him, and walked away.


	19. Chapter 19

Epilogue

Jadeite and Thetis watched as the couples entered the massive cruise ship, holding hands. They were very pleased about this. Jadeite didn't want to admit it, but he thought Thetis was a genius for thinking of this plan, since he knew that humans were suckers for love and romance. The blue haired youma smirked as she watched them go in.

"Pathetic humans..they don't know that this is a trap, an illusion to us," she sneered. She thought about how the blonde general complimented her on how many tickets were sold. She thought maybe if they went through this scheme with very little problems, they could have their own little quality time together. She would try to get him to open up to her and give her a chance to show him how much she really loved him. Without spurning her, that is. It was such an honor to have that privilege.

The surly general felt queasy by all the affection displayed..it was so mawkish. "Look at them all. So lovey dovey. Now I know what they mean by ship of fools."

Another assistant told him that all of the winners have entered the ship.

"Excellent. Hoist the anchor."

The assistant did as he was told, and started the engine. Jadeite and Thetis went inside to take care of some stuff.

Ami and Rei were walking to the snack bar to get something to eat, since neither of them had a snack before coming on, and were a little hungry. Though they hadn't brought any food with them, they had some cash. The ship swayed to and fro. Ami and Rei struggled to keep their balance.

"Wow. The seas are very rough today," said Rei. She held on to the wall to keep from falling. She was so happy that she didn't get seasick as she would have had to have gotten some Dramamine.

At that moment, the rocking stopped, and the girls steadied themselves and continued.

Ami looked around, and saw all the women with men. She and Rei were the only people without mates. She mentioned this to her. Rei didn't need reminding..she really wished that she could have tracked down Mamoru. She thought he was so dreamy. But on the other hand, she was having a good time with Ami.

"True. But we do not need dates to have a good time," the black haired girl pointed out.

"You're right," replied Ami. They stopped talking, for they were at the snack bar.

* * *

Meanwhile, Usagi was taking pictures of the outside of the ship. She decided that she took all the outside pictures she wanted, and that it was safe to go in. She decided to take some pictures of the insides as well as get a nice snack from the ship's snack bar. She was famished. The blonde just remembered that Luna was still in the bag. She figured that the cat was very peevish by then. She pulled Luna out of her carry on bag.

"It's about time," said Luna. She didn't appreciate what Usagi did one bit. She was on the verge of asphyxiation inside there. What was the senshi trying to do, kill her or something?

"Are you all right?" asked Usagi.

"Yes. Being locked in an airless bag feels just great," the frazzled feline answered sarcastically.

The ditzy girl giggled nervously. "So sorry about that. I'm going inside now. Want to mingle with me?"

"No, thanks. I don't think cats are allowed on this boat," replied Luna. That was the only reason she wasn't too annoyed with being in a bag. She would even let her do it again.

"Please?" begged Usagi. "I need you. Just pretend you're an assistant." She was about to go inside when all of a sudden, the door to the ship opened and a man's voice asked, "What are you doing here?"

Frightened, the blonde jumped a mile. She jerked her hand back and her heart started to pound really fast. She had to place both hands on her chest to stop it. Whoever did that really gave her the willies. That made Luna fall back into the carry on bag. The man revealed himself. He was wearing a police uniform and he had short, curly dark hair. Usagi had no idea that it was actually Jadeite, disguised as a captain. He was pretty handsome, she had to admit, but she was too startled to think about that.

"Please come with me. You're not allowed in this area." His voice was very crisp and gruff. Was enough to make her obey.

The man could see how scared she was. A part of him felt...remorse? He didn't understand the feeling, or why he was feeling that way. All he knew was that the girl's fear made him soften a bit.

"What are you doing here?"

"I got separated from my friends and I took a wrong turn," explained Usagi. "I was just going back inside."

"I see. Well, I can see how you can. There is a large crowd on this ship," said Jadeite as if he had understood.

"Will you help me look for them? Please?" asked Usagi.

"Yes. I will," replied Jadeite. '_Wait a minute! Why am I being so nice?' _ Something else he didn't understand. Was it...love? But that was ridiculous. He scoffed at love. Why would he have any love for the girl? He didn't even have any feelings of affection for Thetis, and she was of his kind.

The slightly baffled blonde felt slightly more relaxed. This captain seemed like a nice person after all.

'_I'd sure love to sit at the captain's table with him,'_ thought Usagi. She was developing a crush on him, which was nothing new.

Rei and Ami were done with their snacks, and were now looking at the sunset and the ocean waves. The black haired girl didn't think it would be fun to spend the entire time before the meal looking at the ocean. Dinner would not be for at least 2 more hours. She and the blue haired girl needed to find something fun to do to preoccupy the next couple of hours. But the question was, what fun thing could they do on a cruise that was for romantic couples? She got an idea. It would make up for not having Mamoru as a boyfriend..surely there were some men just as nice as he was, and they were some just as attractive, if not more. They couldn't _all _ have healthy relationships.

"Hey, I know what we can do until dinner time," she told Ami.

Ami turned to face Rei. "Oh? What is it?"

"Let's try and find a boyfriend from all of those guys and take a picture with them," she said.

That didn't sound like a productive activity to the senshi of ice. "Why do you think we should do that?"

"It would be a good way to pass the time, and we could show Usagi how much fun we had, making her wish that she was here."

Ami sighed. She wondered why Rei would sound so malicious. She was starting to wish she had brought some books with her so she could study during this time.

Jadeite led the blonde back to the ship's entrance. She thanked him for his kindness.

The low-ranked shitennou looked confused for a second. There was that foreign feeling washing over him again..it was almost as if he were going soft. _'Ridiculous. Humans are lowly creatures.'_

"You're welcome. I must get back to my captain's duty now, I'm afraid. But I would like to spend more time with you. Would you care to join me for dinner?"

"That would be lovely," replied Usagi, cheerfully. She rested her head on his shoulder. She was a little disappointed that he had to leave so soon, as she wanted to take a picture with him, but if she was going to have dinner with this man, she would have a chance then.

Jadeite was a little surprised at how this girl rested her head on his shoulder. Usually he would have thought that was filthy, but not this time. He still didn't understand what the feeling was. And another thing he found strange was the fact that something about the girl seemed oddly familiar. Just then, Thetis, also disguised as a captain, came and informed him that the crew was waiting for him.

"See you at dinner, Miss," said Jadeite, leaving.

"All right," said Usagi. She watched him with starry eyes.

Luna came out of the carry on bag.

"Usagi, be alert. I sensed bad vibes around that man. We'd better keep an eye on him and that lady," she said.

The moon senshi groaned..there Luna was again, being such a worrywart. Aside from how intimidating the man was with his gruffness, he had been a perfect gentleman. She was looking forward to having dinner with him. But she didn't feel like arguing with her feline guardian, so she decided to humor her by agreeing.

"Okay. If you say so."

* * *

Jadeite and Thetis were in one of the cabins that was reserved for captains only. Contrary to what the blue haired youma said, the guests were not exactly waiting..except for dinner and the "extravaganza." She showed her partner a glistening blue crystal ball.

"Very beautiful," was his comment.

"It is an energy ball," she was explaining. "When all the love energy reaches its highest point, we can use the energy ball to snatch all the energy from these mortal fools."

The blonde general nodded. "I see."

The woman was hoping for a more enthusiastic response than that. "So what do you think? Isn't it ingenious?"

"I will congratulate you when the plan works, not a moment sooner." It was clear that Jadeite didn't have much more faith in her, which disappointed her. But she shrugged it off.

"I am sure that nothing can get in our way..not even those meddlesome sailor senshi. We can zap their energy if we have to."

Luna and Usagi kept an eye on the captains through the glass window. They were listening for anything sinister sounding. Usagi couldn't hear anything, but she knew her guardian and companion had a sharper sense of hearing. She wasn't about to strain to hear anything.

"Do you hear anything suspicious?" the blonde senshi asked Luna.

"No,but I just know that those people are up to no good," answered Luna.

The blonde felt like being a smart aleck. How did cat know that if she couldn't give any evidence? She regretted going along with the scheme. She decided to voice her disagreement, whether she got reprimanded or not.

"But the man was nice to me."

"That may be, but something about that blue glass ball is giving me the creeps," said Luna.

Usagi looked through the glass window to see what Luna was talking about, but she didn't see the man and woman anymore. She gasped.

"They disappeared."

"It's official. Those two are from the Dark Kingdom."

As much as the senshi of the moon hated to admit it, it seemed that the feline was right. After all, only the Dark Kingdom people could disappear in thin air unless humans themselves were trapped.

"We'd better go to the ballroom and stop them," said Luna.

"Right!" She transformed, and proceeded to sprint to the ballroom with Luna.

* * *

A little while later, people were seated at the dining room tables for dinner. Rei felt that it was about time. She devoured a few pieces of meat, as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. Ami looked at her, embarrassed.

"Rei, you should slow down. You could choke or give yourself a stomachache," she said, carefully cutting her food.

"Nonsense. I'm hungry," the black haired girl replied between bites.

"People are staring at you."

"So, what else is new? They were staring before it was dinner time." She gobbled some more food.

The blue haired girl shrugged and ate some of her dinner.

The sprint to the ballroom was becoming tiresome for Sailor Moon. She would never understand how track stars could do it. She was already huffing and puffing and she had not reached the ballroom yet. The wretched room seemed to be a long way away. She was losing patience. She hoped that she wouldn't be too tired to fight by the time she did get there.

Soon, dinner was over, and a lady announced that it was time for the extravaganza in the ballroom. The men and women stood up, and formed a couple of lines. They walked there gingerly, and wondered what was in store for them. After all, the couples were looking forward to a memorable evening. They had no idea that their fantasies would be cut short by what was like a living nightmare..only it was very real. Ami and Rei followed to see what would happen in the show.

Once in the room, the crowd of people were greeted by a woman with her hair in odangos and a man with short, curly wispy dark brown hair. The woman smirked to herself. _'These human fools don't realize the world of pain they're about to enter. They fall into traps so easily it's pitiful.'_ Then she spoke in the friendliest voice she could.

"Hello, lovebirds. I have a great show, so don't go away! First, we're going to begin with a little bit of black magic!" The woman had a large black energy ball above her. She raised her arms in a mystic gesture and held her hands thrust open, palms facing each other. Some small white circles were generated from the glass ball, and surrounded the people, who were somewhat oblivious to what was going on. The bewildered couples felt woozy, and began to collapse. The people fell into a very deep sleep.

Thetis gave an evil laugh. "Are you having as much fun as I am, folks? Ahahahahaha!" At this point, she was almost completely faceless, with the exception of red eyes and her odangos turned into long black hair, and her dress turned into a bodysuit.

The man next to her laughed as well, and his disguise turned into a man with the familiar military Dark Kingdom uniform and short curly blonde hair.

The two dateless girls were horrified when they saw the people getting their energy stolen, even more so when the two perpetrators revealed their true forms. The blue-haired teen gasped. "It's Jadeite."

Thetis and Jadeite looked up. The youma was surprised that these two humans were still conscious. But what happened? Did they just enter the ballroom or something?

"Huh? Why are they not under the spell?" she wondered out loud. She was pretty angry about this.

The blonde general was going to be blunt in the way he answered her. He knew he should not have taken her at her word, and that he would have been better off alone. "Well, these girls do seem to be without dates. And we only took energy from people in love. You've made a grave miscalculation, Thetis. Now you must find a way to deal with these little girls."

_'Dang,'_ the youma thought. So much for her and Jadeite becoming closer. Now he had lost what respect he had for her. That angered her quite a bit. As much as she despised the two girls for this humiliation, she kept her cool. She knew just how she would try and get him to trust her. She glared at the teens.

"Don't you know that this cruise is for romance couples? What are you doing here without dates?"

"That's none of your concern. Release those people from your spell right now!" the fiery tempered priestess demanded. The blue haired girl was very angry as well. She nodded to show her agreement.

Thetis laughed. Their orders didn't faze her at all. After all, what could 2 powerless little girly girls do to a powerful youma like her?

"Sorry girls, but I'm afraid I cannot do that!" She made an army of clay monsters and ordered them to attack. They prepared to attack the girls. Very repulsed by the monstrosities, Rei karate chopped one of the clay youma. Ami helped her fight off the clay youma as best as she could, but she and Rei were outnumbered.

The ebony haired woman grinned evilly. She was able to hold them off while she bought some time to put them away for good. There was no way they would be able to defeat all of her creatures.

"Nice work, Thetis," Jadeite commented sarcastically. "But you'll need to do better than that."

Thetis smiled to herself. She would waste them all in good time.

Jadeite was about to leave so he could give the energy ball to Beryl...he had no desire to work any more with a youma he considered incompetent. She could lose on her own. Before he could leave, he was interrupted by an all-too familiar girl's voice telling him to stop.

"You two are not going anywhere!" shouted the female's voice.

Ami looked up, and gasped. "Sailor Moon!" She was glad to see her, since she was beginning to feel overpowered by the wretched creatures. But she wondered how she got on the ship as well. Rei, on the other hand, was shocked, but not so much pleasantly surprised, though she thought having some help was cool.

"I am the pretty sailor soldier of justice, Sailor Moon! Shame on you for stealing people's love energy! In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

Thetis was partly annoyed that she was interrupted, and partly glad that she would have a chance to destroy her arch nemesis and win her comrade's love and respect.

"Such a garrulous one. Well, I will shut you up once and for all!" she said, making cyclones rise up. She shot them at Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon got out of the way just in time.

"If you are hit by that water, you will be pulverized!" Luna warned her.

The youma shot more cyclones at the whimpering blonde senshi. She dodged again, but she knew that she couldn't keep it up forever. But she didn't know how to beat the woman, she was so powerful..more powerful than the previous youma. The two girls could see that Moon needed help, but they still had their hands full with the clay monsters. The senshi of fire realized that they could be destroyed easily with her fire power. She and the blue haired girl hid behind a curtain, and transformed.

The blonde shitennou laughed at his greatest enemy's struggle. Very good. It looked like Thetis might pull this off after all. At least he wouldn't be yelled at for using her in his scheme when he didn't want her help in the first place.

Once transformed, the senshi of fire defeated the monsters with her Fire Soul attack. "Finally," she breathed out.

"Shall we go after Jadeite?" asked Sailor Mercury.

"Yes, but first, let's help Sailor Moon," said Mars. "She needs our help badly."

Sailor Moon was on the ground, quivering in fear. She was so tired of running, but she just didn't know how to defeat this witch. She could so use help from the others.

"There's no escape for you, Sailor Moon," taunted Thetis. She prepared to launch another attack for the killing blow.

"Shabon Spray!"

The blue haired youma was taken by surprise, and she felt cold. She swore loudly, as she could no longer see clearly. It looked like she was trapped. And there was very little she could do, short of launching a counterattack.

"Fire Soul!"

A fireball swirl toward the disoriented youma and hit her. "AHHH!" she screeched as the flames produced a burning sensation. She couldn't believe it. It looked like she had underestimated the girls. They were more formidable than she thought.

Sailor Moon took off her tiara, and threw it at Thetis. "Moon Tiara Action!"

Thetis was terrified. She saw what that moon tiara was capable of, and knew that once the moon child did the attack, it was all over. She screamed as the tiara hit her. She dissolved into water.

This made Jadeite very angry. Not only did the wretched senshi spoil his plan, but he would have to worry about getting yelled at by Beryl, or worse. He did have some energy gathered for the first time ever, but he doubted that it would be enough to save his hide.

"You've foiled my plans for the last time!" he growled.

"I would surrender if I were you!" Sailor Moon told him.

"Your reign of terror ends here!" said Mars, glaring at the evil man.

"If you take responsibility for your actions, we may spare you," said Mercury.

The blonde man wanted to laugh at the girls, as their words made no sense to him. Surrender? He didn't think so. He would obliterate them even if he died with them.

"Sorry, girls, but that will not happen." Jadeite teleported away with the energy in hand.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nephrite was on his throne, eating red velvet cake and drinking a glass of milk. Yukari was in there with him, watching the battle. It was official. The incompetent general would be punished _real_ soon..she could feel it.

'_Nice work, Jadeite. You've lost Beryl's best youma. I imagine that she'll be VERY pleased,'_ thought Nephrite sarcastically. He thought Jadeite was a fool for allowing her to accompany him in the first place. He would be surprised if the evil queen didn't eliminate him at that very moment.

Queen Beryl summoned Jadeite in her throne room. She was furious that the blonde didn't get her permission to use her best henchmen, and even more angry that the youma was destroyed.

"Jadeite reporting," said Jadeite as he appeared. He braced himself for whatever was to come. Although it wasn't entirely his fault, he was still nervous. He didn't know if the queen would forgive him.

"You've used my best youma, Thetis, without my permission. Because of your careless planning, I have lost her. This displeases me greatly, Jadeite."

"She was the one who wanted to help me, my queen," the blonde man tried to explain.

"You're forgetting your place, Jadeite. I did not tell you to speak. Wait while I decide your punishment," said Queen Beryl, sternly.

'_Sailor Moon will pay for this if I survive,'_ thought Jadeite, seething. The queen was nice to give him time to wait. At least he would have time to think of how to dispose of those germs..that is, if she gave him one more chance to do so. But he would have to be fast in coming up with a fool proof scheme.

FIN

Notes: _To be continued in Book 2-"Slow Process to Redemption", formerly "Love Takes Time", coming up soon. Watch out for it. _


End file.
